One would think a union office administrator who makes more than $500,000 a year wouldn't have to resort to stealing. But Melissa King isn't a typical employee. King, until recently the longtime benefits administrator for Local 147 of the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) in New York, was charged on December 1 in Manhattan federal court with arguably the largest embezzlement scheme in the history of American labor. Prosecutors are saying that for at least six years she stole a staggering $42 million from three union benefit funds, diverting the money to bank accounts that she controlled. Her lawyers claim she is innocent. Now out on $10 million bail, she's going to have a tough time convincing a jury of that.
The indictment of Melissa King may have been a formality, but members of the union from which she allegedly stole on a staggering scale are satisfied all the same. On February 17, King, former longtime benefits administrator of Laborers International Union of North America Local 147, better known as the "Sandhogs," was 
"We spent a fortune to elect Barack Obama - $60.7 million to be exact - and we're proud of it," Service Employees International Union (SEIU) President 
