Donna Simpson’s $50,000-plus salary as a union secretary apparently wasn’t enough to make ends meet, so for a year and a half she took to stealing from the union. The thefts weren’t detected at first, but her good luck streak eventually ended. Simpson was indicted in late August by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh for embezzling $87,823 from a bank account of the United Steelworkers of America’s Organization for Active Retirees. Neither she nor union spokespersons could be reached for comment.
Simpson, 42, a resident of East McKeesport, Pa., had served as field secretary for the organization. U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said in a prepared statement that from June 2006 until early 2008 she wrote herself 82 unauthorized union checks. Her salary last year was $50,305, according to the union’s financial report to the U.S. Department of Labor. The indictment follows an investigation by DOL’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 8/26/08).
Ohio Local President Indicted for Embezzlement, Records Fraud
