LABORERS (LIUNA)
Kansas Boss Admits $15,000 Union Embezzlement
Joseph C. Rider pled guilty May 24 in U.S.
Dist. Court in Kan. City, Kan., to one count of union embezzlement. The
ex-business manager and secretary-treasurer of Laborers' Int'l Union of
N. Am. Local 1290, admitted to using a credit card to spend more than $15,000
in union funds for the personal benefit of himself and others. He also
admitted to not reimbursing the local for the charges. A Nov. 2000 indictment
said Rider used the credit card for airline tickets, restaurant bills,
NASCAR tickets, Las Vegas shows, and vehicle rentals. The crime occurred
over four years beginning in Nov. 1995. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug.
6. The Dep't of Labor's Office of Labor-Mgmt. Stnds. was involved in the
probe. Rider was the third generation in his family to head Local 1290.
He was removed in 1999 after an internal probe. He was also president of
the W. Mo. & Kan. Laborers' Dist. Council. [K.C. Star 5/24/01]
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