The ex-secretary-treasurer of the Communications Workers of Am. Local 14749 in Grand Forks, N.D., Steven C. Rude, pled guilty Jun. 2 to embezzling about $18,000 from union coffers. The boss was sentenced to two years of supervised probation and 50 hours of community service. The embezzlement occurred from 1991 to 1995. He allegedly made full restitution. Rude could have been sentenced to five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine. [Grand Forks Herald 6/4/99]
Akron Boss Charged with $8,000 Embezzlement
Ex-business agent and secretary-treasurer of the Int’l Alliance Theatrical Stage Employees & Moving Picture Operators Local 912 in Akron, Margaret Smith, was charged Jul. 28 of embezzling over $8,000 from union coffers. She was charged with one count of union embezzlement and one count of falsification of union records. The U.S. Atty.’s Office in Cleveland said the boss wrote 21 checks to herself, totaling $8,612 from May 1994 to Jun. 1996. Smith has also allegedly forged the name of another union boss as co-signer on the checks. If convicted, she faces six years in prison and a $350,000 fine. [Akron Beacon Journal 7/29/99]
South Dakota Boss Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
Robert J. McNeil, ex-business manager of IATSE Local 503 in S.D., pled guilty Apr. 29 to charges of stealing $2,000 from the union, according to Asst. U.S. Atty. Michelle G. Tapkin in Sioux Falls. Mitchell originally denied charges that he embezzled union funds. He was sentenced Jul. 13 to three years probation and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution and $600 in fines and fees. [Aberdeen American News 3/22/99]
Akron Local Sues to Recover $1 Million from Boss
Members of United Steelworkers of America Local 01-2-L are trying to prevent their ex-secretary-treasurer from keeping any of the money he stole from the union. William S. Demboski, Jr., pled guilty in Feb. 1999 to embezzling over $316,000 in union funds and falsifying records to cover up the theft. He was sentenced in May to two years in prison and ordered to repay $316,273 in embezzled funds, plus an additional $16,000 in costs associated with the investigation and audit.
The local filed a lawsuit Jun. 11 seeking $1,025,000 from Demboski and his wife, Rebecca. The suit stated that unless Rebecca Demboski was included in the action, the embezzled union funds “could be considered marital assets and converted, hidden, transferred and otherwise lost to recovery.” Local 01-2-L president Doug Werstler said the local filed the suit on the advice of federal prosecutors to make sure the union would recover its funds.
Demboski, who handled the union’s finances for 12 years until resigning in 1997 amid a Dep’t of Labor investigation, never has commented in court on what he did with the stolen money. His lawyer said only that the funds were spent for personal use or unauthorized union expenses. [Akron Beacon Journal 6/12/99]