On May 12, Amanda Kemmer, ex-secretary for Bricklayers Local 3 in the Des Moines area, was given a 24-month prison sentence plus three years probation, and was ordered to pay full restitution for embezzling union funds. Kemmer pleaded guilty last December in federal court to stealing more than $209,000 over the period January 1997-April 2004. She’d pocketed about $175,000 of that by using a rubber stamp to write herself checks, and raked in the rest by altering pay stubs and pilfering cash. (OLMS, 5/27).
Indictment of Pittsburgh-Area Bookkeeper Unsealed
On May 11, an indictment against Patricia Longbon, ex-bookkeeper for the AFL-CIO’s Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) of Southwestern Pennsylvania, was unsealed after a year-long delay. Longbon had been indicted on 25 counts in connection with embezzlement of $10,157 of union funds, and two counts of creating false financial records. The delay was due to the difficulty in locating her. (OLMS, 5/27).
Delaware Local Boss Sentenced for Embezzlement
On April 22, Gary Miller, former president of Local 2372 of the United Auto Workers, in Delaware, was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Delaware District, to three years probation for embezzlement of union funds. He also was ordered to pay $7,947.28 in restitution and a $100 fine. Miller had pleaded guilty back in January following an investigation by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. (OLMS, 5/24).
Philly Ex-Secretary Indicted for Embezzlement
On May 10, Barbara Wituschek, formerly office secretary for Local 161 of the Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers, was indicted by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on two counts of embezzlement of union funds. In the latter part of 2001 Wituschek had written two checks to herself and her former husband worth a combined $5,745.41. Local 161 represents more than 100 workers in the Philadelphia metro area. (OLMS, 5/27).