On Oct. 1, in the U.S. Dist. Court for the Dist. of Columbia, Renee Hallman, former project specialist with the Wash. D.C. Nurses Association, pled guilty to an information filed on that same date charging her with embezzling $9,572.89 in union funds . The charges were brought following an investigation by the Washington Dist. Ofc. of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 10/5/04]
Frmr. Fin. Secy. Charged with Embezzlement in Penn. Fed. Court
On Sept. 28, in the U.S. Dist. Court for the West. Dist. of Penn., Sonya Green, former financial secy. of United Steel Workers Local 3657, was charged in a 35-count indictment with embezzling $39,879.95 in union funds. The charges were brought following an investigation by the Pittsburgh Dist. ofc. of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. [OLMS, 10/5/04]
DOL Sues for New Election in NY
On August 19, in the U.S. Dist. Court for the Southern Dist. of N.Y., the Dept. of Labor filed a complaint against the United Fedtn. of Security Officers (UFSO). The complaint seeks a new election for president, vice-president, and six board of directors of the UFSO under supervision of the U.S. Ofc. of Labor-Mgmt. Standards. The complaint alleges that the UFSO failed to elect officers more frequently than once every three years by secret ballot among the members in good standing. The complaint follows an investigation by the NY Dist. Ofc. of the OLMS. [OLMS, 10/5/04]
Ex-President Accused of Embezzlement in Ariz. Fed. Court
Federal officials are accusing the former president of a union at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., of stealing $27,000 from the membership. During Josefina Suarez Gonzales’ tenure as president of the union local, from January 2000 to June 2003, she wrote checks to herself and her daughters on union accounts, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Tucson. She also wrote checks on union accounts made out to cash, the complaint says.
Suarez Gonzales did not keep receipts of the expenses and either falsified or did not submit expense vouchers to explain the checks, the complaint said. Suarez Gonzales faces charges of embezzlement and falsification of union records.
The bargaining unit of which Suarez Gonzales was president, Local 1662 of the American Fedtn. of Government Employees, represents about 250 employees at Fort Huachuca, about 70 miles southeast of Tucson. The members are both civilian employees of the federal government and workers for private companies at the fort, according to a Labor Department press release U.S. Labor Dept. officials investigated the case and had full cooperation from the union. Records in the U.S. Dist. Court say Suarez Gonzales was charged Sept. 17. [Arizona Daily Star, 9/25/04]