An unnamed administrator has admitted embezzling from the health & welfare fund of Local 456 of the Intl. Bhd. of Teamsters. And the union’s temporary trustee reports a recent campaign of intimidation by the family that has been dislodged from the local hierarchy by the trusteeship.
Dan Kane was appointed trustee of Local 456 in 2003 by Intl. pres. James Hoffa after the union’s Ind. Rev. Bd. (IRB) accused the Doyle family of nepotism, favoritism in job assignments and financial mismanagement. The 18-mo. trusteeship is scheduled to end in July, but could be extended by Hoffa. The fund administrator is a longtime employee of the Local under the Doyle dynasty, and has admitted to the embezzlement scheme in a sworn deposition.
In a letter to the local’s 4,000 members reporting the embezzlement, Kane also reported that he has received threatening phone calls, the local’s offices under his control have been burglarized, and tires have been slashed in the union hall’s parking lot. “It’s not a coincidence that this campaign of intimidation began as we were starting to uncover problems at the fund,” Kane wrote. [White Plains Journal News, 4/11/04]