James Thompson

Georgine Takes the Fifth, Congress Holds Hearings

Submitted by David Kendrick on Mon, 06/23/2003 - 00:00

Former ULLICO chief Robert Georgine refused to testify twice last week before House and Senate committees.  In the Senate hearing, frmr. IL governor James Thompson said there was "no question" that Georgine and other directors violated their fiduciary duty to the union workers whose dues and pensions bankroll ULLICO when they bought and sold their own stock for huge profits while that stock plummeted in 2000 and 2001. 

In that hearing before the Senate Governmental Affairs Cmte., Thompson also said on June 19 that he did not examine whether the directors -- mostly union officials -- who made the stock profits, violated federal pension and labor laws.  He claimed that to have examined the directors' culpability under those statutes would have "prolonged" his investigation.  It was more important, Thompson said, to make public the fact of how the directors engaged in "self-interested transactions that disproportionally benefited the insiders" on the board at the expense of the union pension funds that were unable to participate in the same transactions.

Ullico Chief Tries to Trump Thompson Report with "Special Committee"

Submitted by David Kendrick on Mon, 04/14/2003 - 00:00

Former Illinois Gov. James Thompson found "compelling evidence" that the union boss directors of Ullico violated their fiduciary duty to the union members whose pension funds support the insurance company.  In Maryland, where the union insurance company is based, state law requires company directors to act in the best interests of the company, not themselves.  But from 1999 to 2001, 19 Ullico directors took advantage of insider stock deals disproportionally structured to favor them even as the company finished 2002 in debt, and has seen its insurance rating downgraded twice this year.

Thompson handed over his report to Ullico CEO, and former construction union boss Robert Georgine last November.  But Georgine refused to release the report to the public, and has fought efforts by U.S. labor dept. and Maryland insurance officials to see the report, claiming attorney-client privilege.  In response to the Thompson report, Georgine formed a "Special Committee" of Ullico directors who reportedly did not take part in the stock deal. 

Ullico Investigator to Join 9/11 Commission

Submitted by David Kendrick on Mon, 12/23/2002 - 01:00

With his report on the inside stock deals at the the union-insurance company safely under wraps, frmr. Illinois gov. James Thompson is moving on the Joint Commission on 9/11.

With a fed. grand jury investigating the scheme, Ullico directors appointed Thompson in April to conduct an internal review of the sales. Thompson finished the report in Sept., but agreed with Ullico lawyers that the report was protected by attorney/client privilege. With this claim, Ullico president Robert Georgine is keeping it out of the hands of the U.S. Attny. for Wash., D.C. A DC grand jury is investigating the stock deals from which several union directors, incl. Georgine, made millions of dollars in profits in 2000 and 2001, even as Ullico's stock fell.

On Dec. 16, U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert appointed Thompson to the joint commission investigating the 9/11 attack, now chaired by ex-NJ gov. Thomas Kean. [United Press Intl. 12/16/02]

Ullico Board on Defensive; Fashions an "Investigation"

Submitted by Michael Nelson on Mon, 05/13/2002 - 00:00

The scandal-scarred board of Ullico, Inc., appointed labor-friendly ex-Ill. Gov. James R. Thompson (R) Apr. 29 to "review" the insider trading scheme that allowed some directors of the union-dominated insurance company to make hundreds of thousands in tainted profits. To see just how labor-friendly, visit http://www.ipsn.org/ullico/thompson_ullico.htm, for a picture from when Thompson was governor. It shows Thompson with Robert A. Georgine, now the Ullico president, who helped select Thompson for the lucrative investigatory job and who Thompson is supposed to be investigating. Also pictured is Angelo Fosco. The deceased Fosco was president, as was his father, of the Laborers' Int'l Union of N. Am from 1975-1993. The government's draft 1994 racketeering suit that led to a quasi-government takeover of LIUNA, stated that Fosco "was an associate of the Chicago [La Costa Nostra] family" and accused him of racketeering acts related to extortion of LIUNA members. Also in the picture is deceased plumbers and AFL-CIO boss Edward Brabec.

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