Former union officials charged with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud for embezzling approximately $350K in member funds over 5 years

CLEVELAND – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor has led to criminal charges for two former union officials who allegedly embezzled approximately $350,000 from the union members they swore to serve.An investigation by the department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards in Cleveland found that the former president and secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 1746 conspired to access the union’s finances for unauthorized transactions for their personal benefit from 2017 to 2022.Criminal charges were filed this month in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio against the union’s former President Pamela Brown and former Secretary-Treasurer Adelle Burrell-Williams. The charging documents allege these former officers used the union’s debit card to withdraw cash at casinos and wrote unauthorized checks from the union’s operating account. The department also alleges that Brown and Burrell-Williams attempted to avoid detection by creating false reports and failing to maintain financial records. The union lost approximately $350,000 as a result of Brown and Burrell-Williams’ actions.  The former uni...