TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Hamilton Trial Conveniently Delayed, Again
The union corruption trial for ex-Teamsters political director and
Ron Carey aide, William W. Hamilton, was conveniently delayed an additional
week (Oct. 12) while Al Gore secured the AFL-CIO endorsement. "Hamilton
was indicted in May 1998 for crimes allegedly committed during the 1996
Teamsters election -- hasn't justice been postponed long enough?" said
NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm.
Hamilton has been charged with conspiracy, embezzlement of union funds, mail fraud, wire fraud, making false statements to a court-appointed union election officer and perjury in connection with grand jury testimony. The trial began Oct. 18 and is expected to last three weeks. In the first week, Asst. U.S. Atty. Robert Rice described the schemes as money pouring out of IBT's treasury "like water from an open faucet." [Reuters 10/21/99]
"More troubling, however, is that the trial's delay appears to be politically motivated," added Boehm. "The delay seems to be timed to protect Al Gore from the appearance of being endorsed by a bunch of corrupt union bosses."
Al Gore received the AFL-CIO's endorsement for President Oct. 13. Gore heavily relied on the lobbying of AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard L. Trumka and AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee to secure the endorsement. Trumka and McEntee were implicated in the Hamilton and the Carey campaign's scheme by a Nov. 17, 1997 court report that disqualified Carey from running for reelection. Trumka invoked the Fifth Amendment. This court report, issued by former-U.S. District Judge Kenneth Conboy, and a flow-chart summary are available at www.nlpc.org.
Teamsters' top boss, James P. Hoffa, told the N.Y. Post on Oct. 11, "We will monitor that trial every day to see if any higher-ups are implicated. The fraud went higher than Hamilton....I’m hoping Hamilton pleads guilty... He can name the missing links in the money transfers to Carey."
Yonkers Local Taken Over, Bosses Ousted
All seven board members of IBT Local 531 in Yonkers, N.Y., were suspended
without pay, and IBT's Independent Review Board appointed a trustee. The
bosses allegedly mismanaged over $1 million in union funds and agreed to
five sham contracts. The ousters came the week of Oct. 4. IRB also cited
the bosses for attending a union Christmas party with Louis DeAngelis,
who was permanently banned from IBT in 1991 for aiding embezzlement and
associating with organized crime figures. [Daily News 10/11 & 10/14/99]
LABORERS (LIUNA)
LIUNA Board Member Barred for Life
Peter J. Fosco, the son and grandson of ex-Laborers' Int'l Union of
No. Am. presidents, was permanently ousted from LIUNA Oct. 15 for wrongdoing
that included arranging no-show jobs for himself that garnered both salary
and pension credits. LIUNA's "in-house judge" Peter
F. Vaira -- whose handling of hearings on LIUNA boss Arthur A. Coia came
were attacked earlier this year by the Dep't of Justice -- wrote that
it "is disturbing that such practices still exist" and that "even more
disturbing" that Fosco holds such a high ranking position within LIUNA.
Fosco is a member of LIUNA's Gen. Executive Bd. Fosco's salary as a LIUNA
regional manager and vice president was $165,000 in 1997.
Besides barring Fosco from LIUNA, Vaira ordered him to pay $80,286 to the union organizations that had kept him on their payrolls for several years for no-show jobs. As a regional director based in New Orleans, Fosco allegedly required his staff to make monthly cash payments of $25 to $50 to him for office parties. But Vaira said there were no records of how Fosco spent the money. Fosco also told staffers to give him expensive gifts such as a $2,100 TV.
However, Fosco's alleged scheme centered on adding two pensions to his existing one. His late father, Angelo Fosco, named him to the New Orleans job in 1987. Angelo Fosco died in 1993 and was replaced by Coia. DOJ's 1994 draft-RICO suit against LIUNA stated: "At all times material hereto, Angelo Fosco was an associate of the Chicago [La Cosa Nostra] family and personally participated in [r]acketeering [a]cts..."
The younger Fosco was reportedly listed as a consultant for the union's Dist. Councils in Ky. and La. and Local 692 in Baton Rouge.h He allegedly did no work for the jobs, but received more than $53,000 for the positions from 1990-94. After 1994, Fosco continued receiving money from the Ky. Dist. Council which named him sergeant-at-arms and paid him $5,988 a year for the previously unpaid position. By lowering his salary to just below $6,000, the level required to file salary reports, Fosco reportedly hoped to avoid detection. [Chi. Trib 10/19/99]
Question: What took LIUNA's "internal reform effort" so long? Why oust Fosco now? How does this help Coia?
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES (AFSCME)
New Jersey Bosses Indicted for Kickbacks
A federal indictment unsealed Oct. 20 charges a father and son who
run a local of a Nat'l Union of Healthcare & Hosp. Employees with taking
$200,000 in kickbacks from a contractor hired to renovate the union's headquarters
in Newark. Victor Garcia, president of NUHHE Dist. 1199J and his son, Victor
Garcia, Jr., the assistant executive director of the union's pension fund,
were charged in the Oct. 13 indictment. The local is a part of the Am.
Fed'n of State, County & Municipal Employees The U.S. Atty. for N.J.
Faith S. Hochberg alleges that the two bosses accepted the money from 1994-97,
in exchange for awarding the contractor $5 million in contracts for work
on the building.
To retain the renovation contract, the contractor -- in addition to the kickbacks -- also allegedly gave the bosses jewelry and other gifts and about $25,000 in free improvements to the bosses' residences. Jewelry included watches, rings and earrings. Home repairs included carpeting, mirrors, landscaping, roofing and driveway repaving. Both also allegedly received repairs for their cars paid for by the contractor. [USAO D.N.J., Media Release 10/20/99, N.Y. Times 10/21/99]
STEELWORKERS (USWA)
Ex-Nevada Boss Charged in Burglary
Billy Jo Hand, ex-boss of United Steelworkers of Am. Local 4856 in
Henderson, Nev., was arrested Oct. 13 on charges stemming from a Oct. 10
burglary at the union's office. Allegedly, the burglar cut a hole into
the wall and took a TV, video recorder, computer and several checks. Las
Vegas police arrested Hand at a casino. Police said he was trying to cash
two forged union checks. He faces 12 felony charges. Bail was set at $51,000.
The arrest was the latest in a series of troubles for Hand. He recently resigned from his position as local president amid allegations he bounced union checks. In late 1997, Hand was indicted on conspiracy and arson charges in connection with a bitter labor dispute involving Titanium Metals Corp. The charges were later dismissed [Las Vegas Rev.-J. 10/16/99]
MARITIME UNION (NMU)
Boss $30,000 Fine for $237,000 Scheme
Nicholas LaForgia, ex-training director of the Nat'l Maritime Union's
Employee Pension & Welfare Plan was sentenced Oct. 18 on charges that
he received about $237,000 in kickbacks and gifts. U.S. Dist. Court Judge
Patti B. Saris sentenced the boss to only 3 years' probation, with the
first year served in home confinement with electronic monitoring. Saris
also fined him $30,000 and required him to return the proceeds of his crime.
LaForgia pled guilty in May 1999.
LaForgia's job responsibilities included determining where NMU members would receive certain training mandated by the Coast Guard. In late 1996, he contacted the owners of Northeast Maritime Inst. in New Bedford, Mass. NMI provides the classes and training. LaForgia arranged for NMU members to attend NMI.
Shortly after NMU's first classes, LaForgia began requesting that NMI's owner purchase items for LaForgia. These items, which the Dep't of Justice valued at about $237,000, were accepted by LaForgia in exchange for his continuing to send NMU members to NMI for training. Such items included jewelry, airline tickets, electronic and stereo equipment, computers and liquor. In Nov. 1998, one of the owners of NMI told LaForgia that he would no longer purchase items for LaForgia in exchange for NMU's business. LaForgia then canceled previously scheduled classes, and no NMU members attended subsequent classes. [USAO D. Mass., Media Release 10/18/99]
GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES
Washington Boss Accused of Stealing $6,000
Tacoma police arrested ex-union boss Sharon K. Kocha Oct. 5 on charges
that she embezzled nearly $6,000 from the Tacoma Food Service Union, a
local chapter of the Public School Employees of Wash. In Jun. 1999, an
audit by the union reportedly found that she embezzled at least $5,818
from TFSU. Kocha allegedly took the money by writing 27 checks to herself,
her personal creditors and for cash from Jun. 1998 to Apr. 1999. TFSU reportedly
determined none of the checks were for reimbursements.
When union bosses confronted Kocha, she said she would refund the money. A police report said that after Kocha said she would put money into TFSU's account, $3,000 was deposited on Jun. 9. Bosses assumed the deposit was made by Kocha, but there was no documentation that she did. When she was confronted again, she said she thought she only owed "another $700." TFSU pursued criminal charges after members asked them to do so in a vote on Sep. 9. Kocha pled not guilty Oct. 6 and was released on $10,000 bail. [News Trib. 10/8/99]
QUOTABLE QUOTE
"Let me explain [why Al Gore got the AFL-CIO endorsement]... It's real
simple. The unions need the Justice Department intact, with Al Gore running
it. Because it has become the Obstruction of Justice Department. There
are a bunch of trials involving union officials and corruption that have
been put off or dismissed...because the corrupt Justice Department...
[W]hat did Al Gore have to do to get this endorsement? Real simple: He had to promise John Sweeney that the Justice Department under his administration would no longer pursue any of these charges against corrupt union officials, like Arthur Coia, Terry McAuliffe -- the Clinton's home financier and other things... If somebody else gets hold of that Justice Department -- especially a Republican administration -- then all these cases are likely to be tried and a lot of people are going to be found guilty...
[I]t's all about making sure these union guys don't get convicted of anything...and Gore had to promise that the Justice Department would remain business-as-usual under his leadership... And that's why people are selling their souls, because [they have] about been caught, the Justice Department has prevented them from being nailed, and they think a Gore Justice Department will continue that business-as-usual."
- Radio Legend Rush Limbaugh, The Rush Limbaugh Show, Oct. 13, 1999, 12:09 EST.
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ADDITIONAL BRIEFS NOT INCLUDED ON THE FAX EDITION OF THIS UNION CORRUPTION UPDATE:
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TEAMSTERS (IBT)
Fired Business Agents Sue Kentucky Boss
A group of ex-Int'l Bhd. of Teamsters Local
89 staffers in Ky., filed suit Oct. 13 against local president, Bob Winstead,
saying he violated their labor contracts when he fired them. Winstead,
who is up for reelection in Dec., fired business agents Fred Zuckerman,
David Swift, Mike Fackler and Avral Thompson and office manager Carolin
Washburn on Sep. 14, after all but Thompson announced plans to run for
union office. Local 89 is Kentucky's biggest union local.
Those fired are members of the Local 89 Business Agents and Office/Clerical Ass'n, which the local has recognized as bargaining agent for business agents and clerical personnel (i.e., it's the union's union). The fired staffers say in their complaint that Winstead fired them wrongfully, that he refused to pay them salary and other benefits owed when they were fired, and that he forced pledges from the business agents for $800 each in contributions to his own campaign.
The suit also alleges that Winstead, via an intermediary, offered to rehire Washburn, Swift and Thompson in Jan. 2000 if they would drop plans to run for union office. It charged that Winstead falsely spread accusations that Zuckerman caused a fight between Local 89 members James Willis and Trenton Vincent on a picket line Zuckerman and supporters set up outside the Local 89 union hall the day of the firings. Local 89's attorney, Al Priddy called the suit groundless.
Zuckerman is a candidate for president of the local, one of two men challenging Winstead. Washburn is a candidate for secretary-treasurer. Fackler and Swift are candidates for trustee. [Courier-J. 10/14/99]
ELECTRICAL WORKERS (IBEW)
Phony Chicago Informant Gets 30 Months
It wasn't the boss for a change.
In 1993, two FBI agents confronted Int'l Bhd. of Electrical Workers boss Jerry O'Connor with seemingly incontrovertible evidence of his guilt: a secretly recorded tape of O'Connor, a high-ranking union official in Chicago, accepting a $10,000 bribe in cash from a longtime government informant. Yet O'Connor insisted it wasn't his voice on the tape and that he was innocent of the accusation. But as it turned out, O'Connor was a victim of a greedy informant named William Russell, authorities said, who conned the FBI out of tens of thousands of dollars for worthless undercover work and nearly framed an innocent man.
On Oct. 14, five months after a federal jury convicted him for lying to a grand jury and obstructing justice, Russell was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison. U.S. Dist. Judge Harry Leinenweber also ordered Russell to pay O'Connor's legal expenses battling the phony allegations and to make full restitution to the government for the nearly $300,000 in pay to Russell and to cover expenses for the ill-fated investigation. Prosecutors said the tape-recorded bribe was a scam by Russell with the help, authorities believe, of an unknown cohort who posed as O'Connor on the tape.
O'Connor is convinced he would have been charged, convicted and imprisoned if not for the fact that he wasn't at the union hall on Chicago's West Side on the day in Sep. 1991 when Russell led the FBI to think he passed O'Connor the $10,000 bribe there. Fortunately for O'Connor, when the FBI confronted him, he still had expense vouchers and other documentation that proved he was more than 300 miles away in Eau Claire, Wis., when the purported bribe occurred.
In 1991, thinking the tape proved Russell's claims of rife union corruption, federal authorities launched a major investigation, setting up at great expense and effort an elaborate undercover storefront business in DuPage County. What federal investigators hoped to prove was that union officials were demanding kickbacks in return for helping the business land contracts. The undercover probe found no wrongdoing as Russell pocketed $10,000 a month in pay as an informant. But authorities thought that at least they still had an incriminating tape of O'Connor pocketing the $10,000 bribe. In the end, the only person charged as a result of Russell's undercover work was Russell himself. Ronald Safer, a ex-federal prosecutor, said Russell figured wrongly that if his fraud was ever uncovered, he would escape punishment because federal authorities "would sweep this under the rug because this was too embarrassing." [Chi. Trib. 10/15/99]
ROOFERS (UUR)
Philadelphia Local's Court Supervision Ends
Eleven years of federal court supervision of United Union of Roofers
Local 30 in Philadelphia ended Sep. 27 with an order from U.S. Dist. Judge
Louis C. Bechtle. Bechtle granted the union's request to vacate a decreeship
order imposed by the court May 23, 1988, but left in place paragraph 7
of the 1988 order, which bars 15 former boss from any further role in the
local's activities.
The court imposed supervision following a criminal investigation that resulted in the union's former business manager being sentenced to 15 years in prison and eight other local bosses being incarcerated. The concurrent political scandal resulted in 14 Philadelphia judges, a Dep't of Labor official, and 35 other city and state officials being charged with RICO violations. The Dep't of Justice initially asked for a trusteeship over the union, then known as Roofers Local 30-30B, "to prevent the union from being managed as a racketeering enterprise in the future."
Local 30 has collected approximately $600,000 in past due benefit contributions from employers, has hired a collection agent to pursue other contribution arrearages, and has a certified public accountant to audit contractual benefit obligations, the court-monitor's final report said. [BNA 10/14/99]
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