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New Hampshire Couple Indicted in $2 Million Union Fraud
BOSTON – A husband and wife who operated an asbestos removal business have been arrested and charged with a fraudulent “double breasted shop” scheme aimed at defrauding the Massachusetts Laborers Benefit Fund (MLBF) of more than $2 million.
According to the indictment, Christopher Thompson and Kimberly Thompson, both 52, of Windham, NH, employed members of Tewksbury Local 1421 of the Laborers International Union of North America. The Thompsons allegedly paid members of Local 1421 for jobs which required union participation from the AQE, Inc. payroll, which was a union signatory corporation. However, when the jobs did not require a union signatory company, the Thompsons paid the union members from the Air Quality Experts, Inc. payroll, which did not provide union rates or benefits to the MLBF.
The Thompsons allegedly sent “remittance reports” to the MLBF which failed to report thousands of hours worked by members of Local 1421, resulting in the underpayment of benefits to the MLBF. The fund provides medical and pension benefits to 8,000 laborers and their families in Massachusetts.
The Thompsons were indicted on 18 counts of mail fraud, one count of benefit fund embezzlement, and 18 counts of filing false documents with an ERISA fund. The mail fraud charges each carry a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the loss or gain from the offense.
The benefit fund embezzlement and false statements charges each carry a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the loss or gain from the offense. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred M. Wyshak, Jr., Chief of Ortiz’s Public Corruption Unit.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Cheryl Garcia, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigation, New York Region; and Susan Hensley, Regional Director of the Department of Labor, Employee Benefits and Security Administration, made the announcement today.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
RELATED: $19M Stolen Identity Refund Scammers Busted in Anchorage
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Public Corruption|White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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