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According to a federal indictment, a top UAW boss and his wife were paid hundreds of thousands in gifts and moneys as part of an illegal multi-year conspiracy with an ex-Fiat Chrysler executive and others.
Photo Credit: TellUsDetroit.com
Before he died in 2015, General Holifield, a top United Auto Workers’ union official was part of an elaborate, illegal, and multi-year conspiracy, according to an indictment handed down on Wednesday.
Holiefield and his wife, Monica Morgan, according to a grand jury indictment, accepted moneys and “things of value” through payments made to the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center (NTC) by a former Chrysler executive and negotiator, as well as others.
Although Holiefield passed away two years ago, Al Iacobelli, a former vice president of employee relations for Fiat Chrysler, Morgan (Holiefield’s wife), Jerome Durden a financial analyst with FCA’s corporate accounting department (and from 2008 through 2015 a controller of the UAW-Chrysler NTC), as well as others were indicted for violating the Labor Management Relations Act.
“Today’s indictment exposes a disturbing criminal collaboration that was ongoing for years between high ranking officials of FCA and the UAW”, said David P. Gelios, Special Agent in Charge, Detroit Division of the FBI in a statement.
“The funds misapplied deprived working men and women of critical workforce and professional development opportunities and calls into question the integrity of contracts negotiated during the course of this criminal conspiracy,” Gelios stated.
Two solid gold pens, a pool and a Ferrari were among the loot taken…
The auto-related blog Jalopnik.com had this to report:
The collaboration ran from 2009 to 2014, according to the 42-page indictment. The indictment says Iacobelli diverted over $1 million in funds from the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center—a facility in Detroit to train and educate workers—to pay for a myriad of goods, including:
- $350,000 for a Ferrari 458 Spider automobile
- leasing a private jet
- two limited edition (solid gold) Mont Blanc pens, spending $37,500 for each
- a pool
- hundreds of thousands of dollars in home improvements
- hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal credit card expenses
Morgan was charged with using a photo company, among others, to conceal payments from Iacobelli and others, while also failing to report the income she received. She received $262,219 to pay off a mortgage on her residence in suburban Detroit, according to the feds.
In 2011, according to the indictment, then UAW President Bob King confronted Holiefield and FCA’s Iacobelli about giving Holiefield’s then-girlfriend Monica Morgan’s company any additional business through the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center, stating they “could go to jail.” However, that warning failed to stop the conspirators.
Prior to his sudden retirement in 2014, Holiefield became a controversial figure when he accidentally shot his wife.
The shooting occurred at a time when the UAW was facing much criticism within its rank-and-file. The criticisms were, in large part, due to Holiefield’s then-seeming coziness to management.
Although Holiefield passed away in 2015 as a result of pancreatic cancer, had he lived, he too would have been one of those indicted.
“Today’s indictment alleges an outrageous abuse of power and misuse of this Chrysler executive’s position of trust. The diverted funds from the NTC could have and should have been used to benefit Chrysler employees,” said Special Agent in Charge Manny Muriel.
UPDATE 1:
UPDATE 2:
Here is the actual indictment:
Former FCA exec and former UAW VP's wife indicted on federal charges by Clickon Detroit on Scribd
