These investigations by OLMS District Offices involve issues such as embezzlements of union funds, union officer elections, the filing of required reports by unions and others with OLMS, and the imposition of trusteeships over subordinate unions by a parent body. These investigations may result in legal enforcement actions.
Date
Description
April 1st, 2013
On April 1, 2013, Grace Rathke, former office manager for Laborers Local 32 in Rockford, Illinois, was sentenced to 17 months of incarceration, three years of probation, and was ordered to pay full restitution of $204,836. In January 2013, Rathke pled guilty to embezzling union funds. The investigation found that between November 2004 and March 2009, Rathke stole money that the union members paid in cash and falsified records to conceal the theft. This investigation was conducted jointly with the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General.
January 3rd, 2013
On January 3, 2013, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Grace Rathke, former office manager for Laborers Local 32 (located in Rockford, Ill.), pled guilty to one count of embezzlement of union funds totaling over $190,000, in violation of 29 U.S.C. 501(c). On August 2, 2011, Rathke was indicated on 10 counts of embezzling approximately $200,000 in union funds beginning in November 2004 and continuing until March 2009. The plea follows an investigation by the OLMS Chicago District Office and the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General.
