Arthur Penn represented Defense Department security employees. Under his control, however, the funds were less than secure. On March 25, Penn, formerly chairman of the Defense Protective Service Labor Committee Pentagon, an affiliate of the Fraternal Order of Police, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to one count of wire fraud in connection with his embezzlement of approximately $384,000 from the Arlington, Va.-based union. He had been charged last November after a grand jury had indicted him on seven counts of wire fraud. The actions follow a joint probe by the FBI and the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards. He is scheduled for sentencing on July 2.
Penn, now 64, during 1999-2015 served as chairman of his union, which represents employees of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency. For much of this time, prosecutors alleged, Penn embezzled funds for unauthorized personal activities that included gambling, a vacation in the Dominican Republic, and various day-to-day expenses. To conceal his thefts, Penn failed to file annual financial reports with the Labor Department. “As alleged, for years Arthur Penn stole money from funds intended to benefit his fellow law enforcement colleagues and used the money for his own personal benefit and entertainment,” said James Dawson, FBI Special Agent in Charge. “The FBI and our partners are dedicated to rooting out this type of opportunistic corruption and fraud, and ensuring those who commit these crimes are brought to justice.”