On December 12, Jeffrey Berger, a New York City school bus inspector, was charged in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York with one count of conspiracy to commit theft and bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. He was arrested and released on $1 million bond. Operators of the buses belong to the Queens, N.Y.-based Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1181, whose recently deposed leadership has been documented to have close ties to New York’s Genovese crime family. The charge follows a joint investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General and Office of Labor-Management Standards. (1/11/08).
Oregon Financial Secretary Indicted for Thefts, False Entries
On December 19, Thomas Wallace, former financial secretary of Amalgamated Transit Union Division 757 in Portland, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon on two counts of embezzling $13,492 in union funds and two counts of making a false statement on the local’s annual LM-2 annual financial reporting form. (OLMS, 1/11/08).
President of Milwaukee-Area Local Charged with Embezzlement
On December 13, Carolyn Wallace, former president of United Steelworkers of America Local 02-356, was charged with an information count in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin for embezzling union funds in the amount of $25,200. The charge follows an investigation by the Labor Department. (OLMS, 1/11/08).
Financial Secretary in Ohio Indicted for Embezzlement
On January 8, Kurt Swanstrom, former financial secretary and treasurer of Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers Local 5-1560, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio for embezzling $12,327 in union funds and making false entries on the union’s financial reporting forms. PACE for the last few years has been affiliated with the United Steelworkers of America. (OLMS, 1/11/08).
St. Louis-Area Financial Secretary Sentenced for Embezzlement
On December 14, Kathy Rankin, former financial secretary-treasurer of Transportation Communications Union Local 512, was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri to three years probation for embezzling $15,622.34 in union funds. She also will have to serve three months of home confinement and make full restitution. Rankin had pleaded guilty in October. (OLMS, 1/11/08).
Former Financial Secretary in Iowa Indicted for Theft
On December 18, James Ireland ex-financial secretary for Local 1672 of the United Auto Workers, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa on one count of embezzling union funds in the amount of $3,662. (OLMS, 1/11/08).