Kevin J. O’Connor, U.S. Attny. for the Dist. of Conn. announced on Jan. 26 the indictment and arrest of Allen Cahill on charges of embezzling union funds and willfully failing to keep union records. The two-count indictment was filed by a Grand Jury sitting in New Haven on Oct. 7, 2003, but was kept sealed until Cahill was arrested.
According to that indictment, while he was President of Local 745 of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chem. and Energy Wrkrs. Union (PACE), Cahill embezzled, stole, and converted to his own use approximately $42,047 in union funds by using the union’s debit card to make cash withdrawals or to purchase items of a personal nature, by increasing his salary as union president without authorization, and by obtaining travel funds for trips he either never took or union trips on which he brought his family along with him. Cahill was also charged with willfully failing to maintain records, such as receipts and vouchers needed to document the spending of union funds.
Cahill turned himself in on the 26th to the U.S. Marshal in New Haven, after learning of the arrest warrant. He was presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Holly B. Fitzsimmons in Bridgeport. After being advised of the charges and entering a plea of not guilty to both counts of the indictment, he was released on a $25,000 bond. Trial has been scheduled for March 4, 2004, in Bridgeport before U.S. Dist. Judge Janet C. Hall (CT, Clinton). If convicted of Count One of the indictment, the embezzlement charge, Cahill could be sentenced to five years’ imprisonment and fined as much as $250,000. Count Two of the indictment, the failure to maintain union records charge, is punishable by one year in prison and a fine of $100,000.
“Union funds come from the pockets of hard-working members, and this Office will strive to protect these funds from theft by union insiders,” U.S. Attny. O’Connor stated. He also commended the investigators of the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Ofc. of Labor Mgmt. Standards, who investigated this case. [U.S.A.O. CT, 1/26/04]