It was a busy three days for Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 12. On December 17, Laurie Hoffman, former bookkeeper for the local, was charged in U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota with embezzling funds from the Roseville (Minneapolis-St. Paul area) union, and with aiding and abetting illegal activity. The following day, December 18, she pleaded guilty to theft in the amount of $8,909. On that latter day, Elizabeth Branca, former Local 12 business manager, was charged with embezzling $16,546 in union funds and with aiding and abetting. She pleaded guilty on December 19. The charges and guilty pleas in both cases follow a probe by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.
