Corruption Case Widens as Former U.A.W. President is Charged

UAW President Charged with Corruption by FBI

Federal agents from the FBI, Internal Revenue Service and Labor Department continue to investigate President Rory Gamble and former President Dennis Williams, sources told The Detroit News, as part of the years-long probe that has yielded 13 convictions and continues to generate tips. Gamble and Williams have not been charged.

Federal prosecutors charged former United Auto Workers President Gary Jones with embezzling more than $1 million from the 400,000-member union and then conspiring with other officials to cover up the theft with fake receipts and fraudulent expense reports.

Jones allegedly used the money for private villas, costly cigars, golf outings and other luxuries, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The St. Louis-area native led the UAW through their recent negotiations with automakers in the fall. He became the union’s president in 2018 and was previously based in the Kansas City area.

Prosecutors defined the misconduct as a racketeering scheme that ran from 2010 to September 2019, the report says. Investigators say UAW officials created master accounts with hotels supposedly for union business but actually used them for personal benefit.
Last summer, federal authorities searched Jones’ home in Michigan, a union lake retreat in northern Michigan and the regional office in Missouri. The director of the UAW’s St. Louis region, Vance Pearson, was put also placed on leave in October for charges related to the alleged corruption.

“We are not done,” U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said. “We are another step closer to ridding the UAW of its corrupt leadership and returning the UAW to the hardworking men and women of the UAW.”

The General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. auto assembly plants in Kansas City are among the area’s largest private-sector employers, reporting a combined 8,900 workers.