DETROIT — Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged Tim Edmunds, a former UAW official at local 412 in Warren, Mich., with embezzling millions of dollars and spending it on “gambling, guns and cars,” nearly two months after an internal union audit discovered the improper spending
Edmunds is the 16th person charged in the ongoing scandal and first since a court-appointed monitor was installed earlier this year to oversee the union as part of a corruption case settlement.
The UAW in September announced that auditors appointed by then-Secretary-Treasurer Ray Curry had discovered $2 million in improper expenditures at Local 412, and had suspended the financial secretary. Prosecutors on Wednesday alleged that Edmunds, who served as financial secretary, “systemically drained” the local’s accounts of $2 million by using business credit cards for personal purchases, transferring cash to his personal accounts and cashing Local 412 checks into his personal accounts.
“Once Edmunds converted the funds to his own personal use, he used the money to gamble, purchase luxury clothing, high-end automobiles and firearms,” prosecutors allege.
The vehicles include a $74,000 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT, a $96,000 2020 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and a $76,000 2021 Dodge Durango, among others. Prosecutors allege Edmunds purchased roughly 10 firearms ranging between $500 and $2,000.
The feds say UAW auditors discovered he made more than $30,000 in unauthorized ATM transactions at downtown Detroit’s Greektown Casino between 2018 and 2020 using a Local 412 credit card. A subsequent investigation found he put more than $16 million in play at the casino between 2016 and 2020.
A UAW spokesman on Wednesday referred to a September statement issued after the union discovered the improper spending.
“We have put together a very enhanced auditing system and while we are outraged that dues were embezzled, we are encouraged that the UAW auditors themselves discovered and reported this misuse of union dues through our new auditing guidelines,” UAW Secretary-Treasurer Frank Stuglin said then. “We are confident that these new guidelines will identify any similar activity in our union and serve as a deterrent to prevent such activity in the future.”
The latest charges call into question how long the corruption investigation, which was largely wrapped up following the settlement with the union that involved a six-year period of oversight, could linger.
To date, prosecutors have charged 16 individuals. FCA US LLC, now Stellantis, also pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges that the company violated the Taft-Hartley Act.
The Detroit News reported the charges against Edmunds earlier Wednesday.