Gregory Floto, ex-President of Natl. Treas. Employees Union (NTEU) Chap. 116, was sentenced on Sept. 10 for embezzlement and falsification in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for Ariz. He pled guilty on March 15 to filiing a false report with the Dept. of Labor to conceal the $15,714 he embezzled from the chapter from 1994-97. The ex-U.S. Customs inspector was sentenced to six months of home detention, three years probation, fined $2,000 and ordered to pay $7,714 in remaining restitution to the union. This case was prosecuted by the Public Integrity Sec. of the U.S. Dept. of Justice, following a joint investigation by the Los Angeles branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards and the Tucson Internal Affairs ofc. of the Customs Service. [DOL OLMS 9/10/02]
Two More Union Officials Swept up in Cap. Consultants Pension Scandal
On Sept. 5, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Dist. of Oregon, Robert Mayhew and John Lontine, ex- union pension fund trustees, pled guilty to charges that they knowingly and willfully caused false reports to be filed on behalf of their respective trust funds.
Both failed to disclose gifts received from Capital Consultants, LLC (CCL). CCL substantially paid the expense for Mayhew to take a hunting trip to New Mexico. Mayhew was a trustee for the Intl. Bhd. of Electrical Workers (IBEW) 8th Dist. Pension Fund, to which CCL provided investment management services.
Lontine took a fishing trip to Alaska and accepted season tickets for both the Denver Broncos and Colorado Rockies, all paid for by CCL. Lontine was a trustee for the Sheet Metal Workers Local 9 Pension Plan, to which CCL also provided investment management services. The charges were brought following a joint investigation by the Seattle branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards, the Dept. of Labor’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Admin. and Ofc. of the Inspector General, the IRS, and the FBI.
Ex-FL Pres. Confesses to Embezzlement
Jack Hatch, frmr. President of a Dade City-based Retail union, pled guilty on Sept. 18 to union embezzlement in violation of U.S.C. 29 , Sec. 501(c). Hatch entered his plea in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Middle Dist. of Fla. According to the plea agreement, Hatch used credit cards belonging to Local 43 of the Retail, Wholesale Dept. Store Union, and spent union funds without authorization. From Nov. 1996 through March 2000, Hatch stole over $70,000 from the union. As part of his plea, Hatch agreed to forfeit any assets, incl. cash, stocks, bonds, certificates of deposit, personal property and real estate, resulting from his theft. [U.S.A.O. M.D. Fla. 9/18/02]
Ex-Bus. Mgr. Charged with Embezzlement in Pensacola, Fla.
On Sept. 17, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Northern Dist. of Fla., Geoffrey R. Barron, frmr. business manager/financial secy.-treasurer of United Bhd. of Carpenters Local 2471, was indicted on one count of embezzlement of $29,855 of local union funds following an investigation by the Atlanta branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [DOL OLMS 9/26/02]
Ex-Local Pres. Pleads Guilty in Ind. Ct. to Theft, Forgery
On Aug. 27, Priscilla Crist, frmr. President of United Auto Workers Local 2374, pled guilty to stealing some $4,000 from the union. She entered her plea in the Superior Ct. of Wayne County, Indiana.
From Sept. 1999 through Feb. 2000, acc. to the Cause filed by local prosecutors, Crist “exert[ed] unauthorized control over the property of the UAW Local 2374.” On March 7, 2000, Crist also committed forgery on union bank records, acc. to the Cause filed on Dec. 14, 2001. According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards (OLMS), Crist embezzled $4,092 from the union.
Crist was sentenced to one year in prison, all but ten days of which she will serve on probation. She must also perform 32 hrs of community service. As of publication of this issue, it is unclear whether Crist must return the full $4,092 she embezzled, acc. to OLMS, or $665 acc. to the Wayne County sentencing order. [Wayne County, Ind., Superior Ct., DOL OLMS]
Ex-Fin. Secy. in OH Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement
On Sept. 13, 2002, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the N. Dist. of Ohio, Martin J. Mone, former financial secretary of Auto Workers Local 1052, pled guilty to embezzling $6,264.97 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the Cleveland branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards [DOL OLMS 9/13/02]
Ex-Secy.-Treas. in Penn. Charged with Embezzlement & Cover-Up
On September 3, 2002, in the U.S Dist. Ct. for the Middle Dist. of Penn., Laura L. McClurg, former secretary-treasurer of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1195, was charged in an information with concealment of labor union records. The information charges that she concealed and withheld records and statements required to be kept by a labor union in order to conceal her embezzlement of $2,295 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the Philadelphia branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [DOL OLMS 9/26/02]
Ex-St. Louis Pres. Confesses to Fraud
On Sept. 17, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Eastern Dist. of Missouri, Gregory Carpenter, frmr. president of Sheet Metal Workers Local 93, pled guilty to falsifying union records. An information filed on August 15, 2002, charged Carpenter with the submission of fraudulent lost time claims to his union. These charges were brought following an investigation by the St. Louis branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [DOL OLMS 9/26/02]
Ex-Bookkepper Pleads to Falsification of Records in CA
On Sept. 9, 2002, in the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the Northern Dist. of Calif., Cathy R. Josselyn, frmr. bookkeeper of Intl. Bhd. of Teamsters Local 853 in San Leandro, Calif., pled guilty to one count of making false entries in union financial records, following an investigation by the San Francisco branch of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards and the Dept. of Labor’s Ofc. of the Inspector General. [DOL OLMS 9/26/02]