Curtis Iwatsubo confused his union debit card with a personal one. Now he’s getting a belated lesson about the difference. On March 24, Iwatsubo, formerly financial secretary-treasurer of Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers International Union Local 52, was indicted in San Jose federal court for embezzling more than $47,000 from the union, which represents employees at Owens-Corning’s Santa Clara plant. He’s also charged with making false entries in the union check registry to conceal his thefts and making false statements to federal investigators.
As financial secretary, Iwatsubo, 35, a resident of Santa Clara, was responsible for depositing dues money deducted from member paychecks and signing checks from the local account. Prosecutors allege that during January-November 2005 he used his position to make more than 80 unauthorized ATM debit card cash withdrawals to cover personal expenses, triggering more than $47,000 in cash and service fee deductions from the local checking account. Additionally, he used the card to make an unauthorized $800 payment to an American Express charge card issued solely for Owens-Corning business. The charges follow a probe by the Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.