March 30, 2010
FORMER UNION OFFICIAL CHARGED WITH EMBEZZLING MORE THAN $47,000 IN UNION FUNDS AND PERJURY
SAN JOSE, Calif. – A former union official has been charged with embezzling more than $47,000 in union funds and making false statements to a government agency, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced.
According to the indictment filed in San Jose federal district court yesterday, Curtis Iwatsubo, 35, of Santa Clara, Calif., embezzled more than $47,000 in union funds while serving as the financial secretary-treasurer of the Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics & Allied Workers Local 52 (GMP Local 52). GMP Local 52 is comprised of members whom Owens-Corning employs at a Santa Clara facility. Iwatsubo’s responsibilities as financial secretary-treasurer included depositing dues money deducted from members’ paychecks as well as preparing and signing checks from the GMP Local 52 checking account. Iwatsubo was also responsible for recording receipts and disbursements in the local union’s check register so that the union’s checking account balance would reflect all disbursements of union funds.
The indictment alleges that between January and November 2005, Iwatsubo used a union ATM debit card to make more than 80 unauthorized ATM cash withdrawals from the GMP Local 52 checking account. These unauthorized withdrawals resulted in more than $47,000 in cash and transaction fees being debited from the local union’s checking account. The ATM cash withdrawals Iwatsubo made were not related to union business, nor were they authorized by Iwatsubo’s fellow union officers or the local union membership. Iwatsubo instead converted these withdrawals for his personal use. Iwatsubo also used the union ATM debit card to make an unauthorized $800 payment to an American Express credit card he had been issued that was to be used only for business conducted on behalf of Owens-Corning. Iwatsubo diverted this $800 in union funds to pay for unauthorized personal charges that he made on this Owens-Corning American Express card.
The indictment also alleges that Iwatsubo made materially false statements to United States Department of Labor investigators while they conducted an audit of GMP Local 52’s finances. Iwatsubo also made false entries on the union’s check register in an effort to conceal his embezzlement of union funds. Iwatsubo resigned as financial secretary-treasurer of GMP Local 52 on Dec. 13, 2005.
The maximum statutory penalty for embezzlement in violation of Title 29, United States Code, Section 501(c), is five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. The maximum statutory penalty for false statements to a government agency in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001 is five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Joseph Fazioli is the Assistant United States Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Legal Assistant Kamille Singh. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the United States Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards.
Please note: An Indictment contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Iwatsubo must be presumed innocent unless and until convicted.
Further Information:
Case #: CR 10-00212 JF A copy of this press release may be found on the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court filings and further procedural and docket information are available at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges’ calendars with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court’s website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries to the U.S. Attorney’s Office should be directed to Jack Gillund at (415) 436-6599 or by email at Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov.
This site does not contain all press releases or court filings and is not an official record of proceedings. Please contact the Clerk of Courts for the United States District Court for official copies of documents and public information.
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