A Toledo woman who for years worked as an office secretary for a local trades union has been charged in federal court for embezzling thousands of dollars in membership dues.
Laura L. Dixon, 50, is charged with one count of labor union embezzlement. According to documents filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo, she is accused of embezzling between $70,000 and $170,216 from the Ohio and Vicinity Regional Council of Carpenters over a five-year period.
The information, filed Thursday, charges Ms. Dixon with converting “to her own use the moneys, funds, securities, property, and other assets of said labor organization by failing to deposit dues payments made by its members.” However, Ms. Dixon’s attorney, Rick Kerger, said that the employee did not take money for her own use but instead falsified the financial records to help those having difficulty paying their union dues.
“Errors were made by her in an effort to ensure that the members’ benefits would be continued,” he said. “She falsely recorded entries on the books indicating that payments had been made when they had not. This has caused a financial loss to the union, which has not as yet been determined.”
Mr. Kerger added that Ms. Dixon “did not personally benefit from her actions.” Ms. Dixon declined comment through her attorney.
According to its Web site, the union represents more than 17,000 professional tradespeople in 33 locals in Ohio and parts of Kentucky and West Virginia. The union is an affiliate of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and helps match workers with more than 10,000 contractors, the Web site said.
A call to the union’s northwest Ohio office in Rossford was not returned Monday.
The case was investigated by the United States Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards based in Cleveland. It has been assigned to Judge Jack Zouhary.
No court date has yet been set for Ms. Dixon.
The union is not the only to accuse a trusted employee of taking from its coffers.
In 2009, the business manager of Laborers Union Local 500, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Toledo to five years’ probation and ordered to pay $24,324.84 in restitution.
Steven Thomas had previously pleaded guilty to one count of labor union embezzlement for using union money throughout 2004 to pay for visits to strip clubs, where he spent nearly $18,000. A second count of union embezzlement was dismissed. That count alleged that Thomas did not have adequate receipts for thousands of dollars worth of cash advances for travel.
Contact Erica Blake at: eblake@theblade.com or 419-213-2134.
First Published February 28, 2012, 12:01 a.m.
