It didn’t take long for Harry Keil to set about enriching himself. Keil, pension manager for International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 9, was indicted on January 29 on two counts of felony embezzlement in the sum of nearly $55,000 from an employee benefit plan. He was arrested in Rockford, Illinois and appeared in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on February 10. Reports did not indicate whether he pleaded guilty.
Federal prosecutors allege that Keil, 50, a resident of St. Charles, Mo., diverted $54,702 from the union’s pension and health & welfare funds to his own personal use during May 2007-February 2008. Hired in August 2006, he created false invoices, in some instances putting down the names of business entities that did legitimate business with the Bridgeton, Mo.-based IAM District 9. The indictment indicates that Keil stole $46,637 and $8,065 in separate transactions during his employment. The prosecution follows an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 2/10/09; States News Service, 2/10/09).