Fighting efforts by fed. prosecutors to take over a local union described as “a hospitable environment for mobsters,” natl. union officials claim to have taken over and already cleaned up the Bayonne union. The current president of Local 1588 of the Intl. Longshoremen’s Assn., John Timpanaro, stands indicted by NJ prosecutors on charges of collecting cash for favored jobs. But the lawyer for Local 1588, Ralph Lamparello, claims that the state’s indictment against the reputed Genovese crime family associate “is going to be dismissed.” Meanwhile, ILA Vice President John D. Baker claims to have already taken action to clean up the mob-riddled local, and that the proposed fed. takeover is unnecessary.
In 1992, The U.S. Attny. agreed to settle a racketeering lawsuit against 1588, based on the replacement of two mob-controlled officers, and a promise by the new officers to keep organized crime out of the union. In fact, both would later admit that a Genovese associate ordered the two to run for union office, then continued to control the union until all three were convicted in Dec., 2001 of embezzling close to $2 million.
Fed. Dist. Judge John Martin (S.D. NY, G.H.W. Bush) is scheduled to hold a hearing on Jan. 16 on U.S. Attny. James B. Comey’s motion for the appointment of an adminsistrator to run the union, free of mob influence. [Jeresy Journal 12/30/02]
Ex-Trustee Sentenced for Fleecing Indiana Local’s Pensions
John Dunsmoor was sentenced in a South Bend fed. ct. (U.S.D.C. S.D. IN) on Dec. 22 to 18 mos. in prison, and ordered to pay $2.05 million to the union pension & benefit plans he stole from, beginning in 1993.
Dunsmoor falsely misrepresented himself as an investment adviser and licensed attny. to Local 1969 of the Intl. Longshoremen’s Assn. in Portage, Indiana. In ‘93, he and his accomplice, Michael Daher, persuaded the Local to invest more than $3.5 million in two pieces of property in Mesquite, Nev., which the U.S. Dept. of Labor later concluded was highly inflated. Dunsmoor later swindled another $10,000 from the local union by charging legal fees to recover what he claimed were misspent funds.
Eventually, local members who retired, then found there was no money for them in the pension plan, brought the scheme to light. DOL is suing a number of other trustees for approving the payments to Dunsmoor and Daher, who is already serving a 41 month sentence for his role in the fraud.