PAPER WORKERS (AWPPW)
Washington Staffer Admits $15,600 Embezzlement
Geri E. Abbe, ex-office secretary for Ass'n
of Western Pulp & Paper Workers Local 5 in Camas, Wash., pled guilty
Mar. 22 to one count of embezzling $15,690.80 in union funds. The U.S.
Atty.'s Office in Tacoma brought the charges on Feb. 22. The case has been
assigned to U.S. Dist. Judge Franklin D. Burgess (W.D. Wash., Clinton).
According to the plea agreement, between Feb. 1998 and June 2001, Abbe was Local 5's office secretary, and her duties included filling out payroll vouchers. On 16 occasions she embezzled funds through bogus payroll claims. For example, on Feb. 18, 1998, she submitted a payroll voucher in which sought pay for 70 hours of work during the one-week period ending on that date. However, in truth, she worked only 35 hours during that period. After securing an offical's signature, Abbe issued the fraudulent check to herself. She embezzled $14,245 via this scheme.
Additionally, on Apr. 26, 1999, without authorization, Abbe gave herself a one-cent per hour raise, and on Apr. 3, 2000, without authorization, she gave herself a three percent raise. As a result, between Apr. 26, 1999 and June 1, 2001 (when she was fired) Local 5 paid her $1,445.80 to which she was not entitled. She confessed to these embezzlement schemes when an agent for the Dep't of Labor's Office of Labor-Mgmt. Standards, Dan Lavik, interviewed her on Oct. 24, 2001. The plea agreement states that Abbe must make full restitution immediately. [USAO W.D. Wash. 3/22/02; DOL 3/22/02]
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