Posts tagged wire fraud
Former UIA contract worker sentenced for stealing taxpayer money
July 19, 2023 // Regulation agents with the UIA’s Fraud and Investigations Division built a detailed case against Semaje Reffigee by identifying irregular claim activity that uncovered a kickback scheme to defraud the agency and Michigan taxpayers. Reffigee is one of nearly 50 fraudsters – four of them former UIA staff or contract workers – who have been convicted of unemployment insurance crimes. Many more cases are pending. In a plea agreement, Reffigee was sentenced in Detroit to 18 months in prison on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for her participation in the pandemic-related unemployment insurance fraud scheme. She was ordered to pay $313,497 in restitution to the state of Michigan. The UIA uses internal and external tools as well as close collaborations with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to file charges and bring suspects to justice. Charges have been brought in more than 100 criminal cases UIA’s investigators have built since March 2020. Once detailed evidence is gathered and suspects identified, agents work with the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (U.S. DOL-OIG) as well as local, state and federal authorities to prosecute the cases.
Ex-NYPD union boss delays fraud sentence with re-entry class while collecting six-figure city pension
June 14, 2023 // Ed Mullins — who faces up to 20 years behind bars for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in union dues from the Sergeants Benevolent Association — was scheduled to be sentenced on May 25 in the federal case. But Mullins, 61, managed to delay the potential prison term to complete a 12-week pre-sentencing course run by the Focus Forward Project that helps criminal defendants prepare for life in lockup and re-entry into society, according to court documents. Federal prosecutors said he used the member dues to pay for hundreds of personal high-end meals as well as clothing, jewelry and home appliances — and even a relative’s college education.
Former state police union head gets 2 1/2 years in prison on fraud, racketeering convictions
May 11, 2023 // Lynch paid Pullman a $20,000 kickback in connection with a settlement agreement between the union and the state, prosecutors said. They also defrauded two companies that sought to do business with the state police by hiding the fact that Lynch was paying Pullman to direct vendors to use Lynch’s services, authorities said. They then hid the payments to avoid reporting and paying taxes on that income. Pullman also embezzled union funds by using a debit card tied to a union bank account to pay for thousands of dollars worth of meals and travel for himself and his girlfriend to Florida. The union represents more than 1,500 troopers and sergeants.
Former Honolulu Union Leader’s Wife Headed To Prison For Fraud
March 30, 2023 // A Honolulu woman who was convicted alongside her husband for embezzling from a local union and helping to fraudulently increase membership dues was sentenced on Tuesday to nearly six years in prison. Marilyn Ahakuelo was found guilty in November of conspiracy, wire fraud, and embezzlement from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260, a shop once headed by her husband, Brian Ahakuelo. She is scheduled to surrender to authorities on May 17. A jury found that as an employee of the union, Marilyn Ahakuelo conspired with her husband to falsify a dues increase vote in January 2015. She also used union funds to pay for travel that had little, if any, union purpose, including first-class flights. Marilyn was one of several of Brian Ahakuelo’s family members who were on the union’s payroll, and she earned over $100,000 a year for mainly clerical work.
PHILADELPHIA: Former City Councilmember Bobby Henon is facing sentencing for a bribery conviction. Here’s what you should know.
March 1, 2023 // A former electrician and the political director of the politically powerful union of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, he was elected to Council in 2011 backed by union money and support. While in office, Henon remained on Local 98′s payroll — at a salary of more than $70,000 per year — in addition to collecting his $140,000 paycheck from the city. At Dougherty’s urging, the jury found, Henon drafted and, in some cases, introduced legislation — aimed at punishing a towing company that had attempted to tow the union leader’s car and at supporting his bid to become head of the Building Trades Council, an umbrella group of the city’s labor unions. He granted Dougherty outsized influence during negotiations over the city’s 15-year franchise agreement with Comcast, a potentially lucrative deal for Local 98′s members. Henon was also convicted of a separate bribery scheme in which he extorted a $5,000 bribe in the form of a campaign contribution from the Communication Workers of America, when the union in 2015 needed his help in an ongoing dispute with Verizon. Among those pledging their support: former Gov. Ed Rendell, AFL-CIO President Pat Eiding, Local 98 spokesperson Frank Keel, former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery, City Commissioner Lisa Deeley, and City Councilmembers Mark Squilla and Michael Driscoll. Driscoll was elected to Henon’s Council seat in a special election following his conviction in 2021.
4 IBEW Local 98 workers plead guilty to federal charges in Philadelphia
December 23, 2022 // Four IBEW Local 98 employees have pleaded guilty to federal charges of using union assets for personal use. All four were indicted with union boss John Dougherty. Michael Neill, Marita Crawford, Niko Rodriguez, and Brian Fiocca faced various charges, including embezzlement and wire fraud.
Former sports anchor, union official sentenced to probation for his role in corruption scandal
December 5, 2022 // Former KHNL sports anchor and union official Russell Yamanoha has been sentenced to two years of probation and was fined $5,000 for his role in a union corruption scandal. Yamanoha, the former assistant business manager for the IBEW Local 1260, was convicted in 2019 for helping rig union votes. Outside of court today, he apologized for the harms he caused. The union rigged the votes to increase membership dues to fund the lavish lifestyle of Yamanoha’s former boss Brian Ahakuelo. Critics said that given his news background, Yamanoha should have known better.
TSA Union Local Leader Gets House Arrest for Misappropriating Funds
September 1, 2022 // LeClair was charged with one count of wire fraud in U.S. District Court in April, and she pleaded guilty in June. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani sentenced her to six months of home confinement, followed by three years of probation, and ordered her to pay restitution in the amount she stole from AFGE. The maximum penalty for a federal wire fraud conviction is 20 years in prison.
Accountant Imprisoned for Taking $1M from New Orleans Firefighters Fund
July 15, 2022 // Wayne Triche, 72, pleaded guilty in March to charges of wire fraud and tax fraud. U.S. District Judge Greg Guidry sentenced Triche to 41 months in prison. He must also pay $937,659 in restitution to the New Orleans Firefighters Pension and Relief Fund (NOFPRF) and $329,895 to the Internal Revenue Service as part of the sentence. From 2009 to 2017, Triche embezzled approximately $937,659 from the fund, which is separate from the city and the fire department and is intended to administer survivor, disability and retirement benefits to participating firefighters. Triche also lied about his income, failing to claim the embezzled funds on his taxes from 2013 to 2016, which is how the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the IRS nabbed him in a joint investigation. U.S. Attorney Duane Evans, George Russell, at American Pension Consultants,