Graham Hauck, $2.5M Embezzlement, Maryland 2008

Former Union Secretary Jailed for Embezzlement

A former secretary with a Maryland labor union has been sentenced to 37 months in prison for embezzling over $502,000 from the union’s political action committee.

Cora Carper, 32, of Churchton, Maryland, was sentenced to 37 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for embezzling from the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers’ PAC fund. Carper also was ordered to pay $495,286 in restitution, the amount remaining from what she embezzled, with her family previously paying $7,300.

According to her plea, Carper was a secretary with the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, and processed disbursement requests for the Insulators Political Action Committee (PAC) fund. Disbursement requests from the PAC fund had to be made in writing and only by certain officers of the Insulators local. For each requested disbursement, Carper was supposed to print a check from the PAC fund account that contained the electronic signatures of the Insulators general president and secretary-treasurer, and forward that check to the recipient.

However, Carper admits that between June 2009 and February 2011, she printed more than 300 checks totaling approximately $502,586, from the PAC fund account made payable to “cash,” “cash reimbursement,” or “petty cash.” Union officials stated that Carper printed and cashed the checks without authorization, often cashing multiple PAC fund checks the same day. Carper endorsed the back of all but 13 of the more than 300 checks she cashed, and deposited at least $180,000 into her personal bank accounts.

To cover up her embezzlement, Carper falsely indicated in the computerized ledger that the checks were written for donations to political candidates or to reimburse work expenses. In early 2011, the Insulators general president confronted Carper about her embezzlement. Carper admitted that she had taken $7,300, but denied further embezzlement. Her family paid the Insulators $7,300. A subsequent internal investigation by the Insulators and DOL revealed that Carper’s embezzlement far exceeded her limited admission, with $502,586 in checks attributed to Carper’s embezzlement.

U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised DOL, Office of Labor – Management Standards for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristi N. O’Malley, who prosecuted the case. The sentencing is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.

RELATED: Robert Smith III Jailed for Stealing $1M from Union

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