Excerpts from the feds' allegations

Excerpts from an affidavit, unsealed last week, provided by Andrew Donohue, a special agent with the labor racketeering and fraud unit of the U.S. Department of Labor's Inspector General's Office:

(Note: The affidavit identifies four UAW officials who had not yet been charged with the letters A through D and six cooperating witnesses with the numbers 1 through 6. Sources told The Detroit News and Reuters that "UAW Official A" is Gary Jones, the union's president since June 2018, and "UAW Official B" is Dennis Williams, who was president from June 2014 to June 2018. The document describes "UAW Official C" as a former Region 5 executive and "UAW Official D" as a former senior UAW leader.)

… a multiyear conspiracy involving senior UAW officials embezzling, stealing, and unlawfully and willfully abstracting and converting UAW funds to purchase luxury items and accommodations for their own personal benefit. The outlay of the funds was not properly approved, was concealed from the view of the UAW members, and used for the personal benefit of the upper echelon of union officials who were elected to represent the members' best interests above their own.

Records and testimony disclosed that off-site condominiums and villas with private pools and hot tubs in gated communities were secured for individual high-ranking union officials, including Pearson, and UAW Officials A, B, C, & D. Agents noted that UAW email addresses assigned to UAW Official A and Pearson discuss the villas and condominium arrangements between 2015 and 2018.

Between 2016 and 2018, Agents learned that over $60,000 of UAW funds were used for meals at Palm Springs area restaurants LG Prime Steak House and Johnny Costa's Ristorante paid via the master billing arrangement. Ostensibly, these meals were falsely represented to be part of the Region 5 Conferences. In fact, some of these meals took place far outside the dates of the conferences. Like the villa expresses, the subject vouchers submitted to Solidarity House make no mention of the meals. Furthermore, investigating agents found no records detailing the business purpose of the meals, and those in attendance, as is required by the LMRDA to substantiate the expenses.

While invoicing the 2015 conference, [Cooperating Witness #2] was approached by UAW Official C. UAW Official C asked CW-2 to conceal the condominium, villa, meal, golf, and cigar expenses by falsely inflating hotel room rentals on the RPSH invoice. However, CW-2 told UAW Official C that CW-2 could not do it because it would be wrong to fraudulently hide the expenses. Soon thereafter, UAW Official A approached CW-2. UAW Official A asked CW-2 to lump the expenses together into line items like "outside activities" and "outside housing." CW-2 and RPSH agreed to the compromise, but CW-2 felt personally conflicted, as CW-2 believed the purpose of the endeavor was to conceal the true nature of the union's expenditures from its members.

Agents found that the Coronado Resort directed over $25,000 in UAW funds to Access Destinations (an event service company) for high-end meals and excursions in 2015 and 2016. Access Destinations records show that the expenses preceded the official meeting dates of the CAP Conference. The outlay of union funds covered chauffeured transportation to private dining events including purchases of 18-year old Macallan Scotch, Crown Royal Reserve, and other high-end liquor and meal expenses. Agents also discovered over $2,000 in excursion expenses for senior UAW officials, including UAW Official A, and their spouses for tickets to the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park as well as horseback riding on the beach.Additionally, agents discovered the Coronado Resort used UAW advances to pay for over $70,000 to Showtime Golf between 2015 and 2018 for green fees at The Maderas Golf Club, The Grand Del Mar Golf Resort, and The Torrey Pines Golf Club as well as retail purchases at golf course pro shops. In one example, $4,599.93 of UAW funds was spent at the Grand Del Mar Pro Shop outside the conference dates for clothing and golf equipment, including polo shirts, jackets, ribbon belts, pullover jackets, gloves, hats, shorts, pants, and golf balls. That same day, the UAW also paid for 2-hour horseback trail rides for five individuals.

UAW Official C believes that UAW Official A used the events to curry favor with UAW Official B who also enjoyed the lavish lifestyle. UAW Official C stated that union monies were used to secure villas and pay for expenses for retired UAW members to attend and that those members had no legitimate reason to attend the events. UAW Official C stated that the retirees were simply friends of UAW Official A and/or UAW Official B.

During the course of the investigation, agents have developed significant information concerning the "culture of alcohol" that exists in the senior ranks of the UAW. Said term was first used by [Cooperating Witness #4] during interviews with agents. In those and other interviews, CW-4 detailed the outlay of NTC training funds used to purchase significant amounts of liquor and custom-labeled bottles of wine for senior UAW officials including a bottle of Crown Royal Whiskey purchased for UAW Official B costing $185.Agents also spoke with vendors to the NTC who were present in Palm Springs, CA for the events and told agents that there was "no limit" on the amount of alcohol they would purchase for requesting union officials. The vendor added that although a conference in Palm Springs was only a few days, the UAW executives stayed for a month or more. The vendor usually took a full semi-truck of luggage and golf clubs for the UAW so they did not have to travel with luggage. The vendor also transported the luggage back to Detroit as well as any luxury items that were purchased in and around Palm Springs by the UAW officials.

Vendor records and statements/testimony obtained from CW-4 & 5, and other detailed two parties totaling over $50,000 thrown by then UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell, funded by the NTC, under the guise that they were dinners for the UAW IEB to showcase the NTC. These events included thousands of dollars of "ultra-premium" liquor, cigars, a torcedor (a person who rolls cigars), and "kandy girls" (provocatively dressed women) to light the cigars for the UAW officials. If that alone were not enough, training funds were also spend on mojito tables and decorations to theme the event like the 1980's hit T.V. show Miami Vice.

In August 2019, ... agents seized hundreds of high-end bottles of liquor, hundreds of golf shirts, multiple sets of golf clubs, a large quantity of cigars and related items, humidors, and tens of thousands of dollars in cash. Agents seized a set of Titleist irons and hybrids consistent with those purchased at The Club of Porto Cima with UAW funds at the home of UAW Official A. In addition, Agents seized over $30,000 in cash from the residence of UAW Official A. Agents seized a similar set of Titleist clubs, consistent with the clubs purchased with UAW funds at The Club at Porto Cima, located in Pearson's office in Hazelwood, MO.