A federal jury convicted a North Carolina couple, a Missouri man, and an Ohio man earlier this week in relation to a scheme involving theft of union-member dues through the award of no-show jobs, lavish travels and dinners charged to the union, unearned vacation payouts, and an unauthorized $7 million loan made to a union-related bank.
The jury convicted Newton Jones, 72, of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the former President of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Forgers, and Helpers (Boilermakers Union), his wife Kateryna Jones, 33, of Chapel Hill, and the former Secretary Treasurer, William Creeden, 78 of Kearney, Missouri, of violation of the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act.
Those defendants, as well as one of the Boilermaker Union’s former Vice Presidents, Lawrence McManamon, 78, of Rocky River, Ohio, were convicted of embezzlement from the Union through various means, including:
- Taking elaborate foreign trips that were not related to Union business – all defendants;
- Charging personal expenses to the Union, including shopping trips and dinners out – Newton Jones and Kateryna Jones;
- Paying or overpaying unearned salary and relocation expenses for Newton Jones’s family members – Newton Jones and Creeden;
- Paying out of unearned vacation – Newton Jones and Creeden;
- Paying for unauthorized surveillance of Union employees – Newton Jones and Creeden;
- Making an unlawful $7M loan to a bank at which Newton Jones and Creeden were employed – Newton Jones and Creeden;
- Theft from the Union retirement plan – Newton Jones and Creeden;
- Health care fraud relating to unearned benefits provided to Kateryna Jones – Newton Jones, Kateryna Jones, and Creeden; and
- Wire fraud relating to failure to disclose required payments, outside employment, and conflicts of interest – Newton Jones and Creeden.
Look for the union label!