MARITIME UNION (NMU)
Boss Charged with $237,000 Kickback Scheme
Ex-Nat. Maritime Union Employee Pension & Welfare Plan boss Thomas
LaForgia was charged May 11 with receiving $237,000 in kickbacks for referring
members to a Mass. school for training mandated by the U.S. Coast Guard.
LaForgia is responsible for where and when members receive training.
According to prosecutors, LaForgia contacted the Northeast Maritime Inst.
in New Bedford and arranged for NMU members to attend classes at the school
in 1996. LaForgia then began demanding the school purchase items for him.
The items reportedly included airline tickets, electronic equipment, jewelry
and liquor. In Nov. 1998, the school said it would stop purchasing the
items, he then cancelled previously scheduled classes and ceased sending
members to the school. He faces three years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine
and a restitution order. [BNA 5/12/99]
In addition to the unions and organizations covered in this Union Corruption Update, readers can look forward to news and information on other corrupt and abusive unions in future editions.
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Union Corruption Update is part of NLPC's Organized Labor Accountability Project which is investigating and exposing corruption and extremism in the Teamsters, LIUNA, AFL-CIO and many other union organizations. NLPC is a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation promoting ethics and accountability in government through research, education and legal action.
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