Graham Paul Vane liked to live well. Most people do. The problem was that he made fellow dues-paying union members poorer in the process. On May 24, a federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Vane for embezzling more than $170,000 in funds from Branch 1280 of the National Association of Letter Carriers, and falsifying union records to conceal his thefts. Graham, 59, a resident of Pacifica, Calif., during January 2002-March 2006 allegedly diverted union funds to pay for such personal expenses as dining, travel, massages, jewelry, wine and gasoline.
According to the indictment, Vane used a union credit card and 10 personal credit cards to divert union funds to charge for unauthorized purchases. Additionally, he wrote union checks directly to his wife’s cell-phone service provider to pay her bills. He also falsified records of the transactions before filing financial reporting forms with the U.S. Department of Labor. Local Branch 1280 has about 500 members, mainly employees of the U.S. Postal Service in San Mateo County. (SFGate.com, 5/24/07).