Thread: Treasurer of DC Labor Union charged with stealing Funds

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 1, 2011

Founder and Treasurer of Washington D.C. Labor Union Charged with Stealing Pension Funds for Personal Use, Violating a Court Order and Obstructing Investigation

WASHINGTON – The founder and treasurer of the National Association of Special Police and Security Officers (NASPSO) was charged today in a superseding indictment with mail fraud, theft from a labor organization, obstruction of justice, criminal contempt and various recordkeeping offenses related to his operation of a pension plan for NASPSO members. NASPSO is a labor union representing private security guards assigned to protect federal buildings in the Washington, D.C., metro area.

The charges were announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; Mabel Capolongo, Director of the Philadelphia Regional Office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department of Labor; Robert L. Panella, Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations of the Washington, D.C. Regional Office, and Mark Wheeler, Director of the Washington District Office of the Office of Labor Management Standards.

Caleb Gray-Burriss, 60, of Washington, D.C., will be arraigned on April 4, 2011, in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Gray-Burriss originally was charged in June 2010 with four counts of mail fraud.

According to the superseding indictment, from approximately June 2004 through February 2011, Gray-Burriss wrote numerous checks to himself or to other third parties from the checking account where he had placed funds intended for the NASPSO pension plan. The superseding indictment alleges that Gray-Burriss spent more than $100,000 of the pension plan funds in this way, while at the same time falsely maintaining that it was an operational fund that he was properly administering and that was providing benefits to the beneficiaries. Gray-Burriss previously settled a civil suit which, in part, addressed his unlawful conduct with respect to NASPSO-sponsored health and benefit plans.

The superseding indictment charges Gray-Burriss with criminal contempt of a court order after he allegedly stole money from the NASPSO treasury to pay his personal fines due in the civil settlement. The superseding indictment also alleges that Gray-Burriss resumed his involvement with NASPSO-sponsored health and pension plans after the civil lawsuit was settled, even though he was prohibited by court order from doing so.

In addition, the superseding indictment charges that Gary-Burriss, while an officer and employee of NASPSO, stole more than $115,000 in NASPSO funds through unauthorized salary increases and bonuses to himself, cash withdrawals from ATMs, reimbursement for unauthorized vacations and trips to casinos, personal dental work, and other goods and services. Gray-Burriss also allegedly unlawfully used NASPSO funds to pay his parking tickets and personal fines in a civil lawsuit. Finally, the superseding indictment charges Gray-Burriss with two counts of obstructive of justice for concealing and/or destroying NASPSO records and attempting to induce a witness to withhold testimony and records during the grand jury investigation.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Gray-Burriss faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the mail fraud and obstruction of justice charges. The theft from a labor organization charge carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Gray-Burriss also faces additional penalties if convicted of the criminal contempt and recordkeeping charges.

The investigation leading to the superseding indictment of Gray-Burriss was conducted by investigators from three agencies of the U.S. Department of Labor – the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Office of Labor Management Standards and the Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Vincent Falvo of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section.

11-416 Criminal Division

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/Apri ... m-416.html

UGSOA Special Guest Speaker Caleb Gray-Burriss Charged with 4 Counts of Mail Fraud
by UGSOA NEWS
Friday Jul 9th, 2010 3:38 PM
Caleb Gray-Burriss who was indicted on June 30, 2010 was a Special Guest Speaker at the Constitutional Convention for the United Government Security Officers of America International Union UGSOA as reported by media reports and Eye on UGSOA
Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Founder and Treasurer of (NASPSO) Labor Union Charged with Mail Fraud



The founder and treasurer of the National Association of Special Police and Security Officers (NASPSO) was charged with four counts of mail fraud in connection with his operation of a pension plan for members of NASPSO, a labor union representing private security guards assigned to protect federal buildings in the metro Washington area. The charges were announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; Mabel Capolongo, Director of the Philadelphia Regional Office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration of the Department of Labor; and Robert L. Panella, Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations of the Washington, D.C. , Regional Office.

Caleb Gray-Burriss, 59, of Washington, was arrested Tuesday in Washington, and charged in an indictment returned by a grand jury on June 25, 2010, and unsealed today. Gray-Burriss will make his initial appearance tomorrow in U.S. District Court in Washington.

The indictment charges that, from approximately June 2004 through August 2006, Gray-Burriss wrote numerous checks to himself or to other third parties from the checking account where he had placed funds intended for the NASPSO pension plan to cash. The indictment alleges that Gray-Burriss spent more than $100,000 of the pension plan funds in this way, while at the same time falsely maintaining that it was an operational fund that he was properly administering and that was providing benefits to the beneficiaries.

The investigation leading to the indictment and arrest of Gray-Burriss was conducted by investigators from two agencies of the U.S. Department of Labor – the Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Vincent Falvo of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Racketeering Section.

Back in 2005 Caleb Gray-Burriss was a Special Guest Speaker at the 2005 Constitutional Convention for the United Government Security Officers of America International Union UGSOA as reported on Eye on UGSOA.

U.S. Department of Labor Obtains Order Removing Washington, DC Union Executive as Trustee of Pension and Health Plans

For More Information and Documents on Caleb Gray-Burriss visit this website

Tags: Caleb Gray-Burriss, National Association of Special Police and Security Officers, NASPSO,United Government Security Officers of America, UGSOA, Organized Crime,Labor Racketeering, Mail Fraud, Pension Plan
http://www.eyeoncaleb.org/

The charges were announced by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division;

This would be the same Lanny A Breuer that is involved up his eyeballs in Gunrunner? I suppose this would be considered positive press for him.

From Issa Letter.
[quote]...I am joining Senator Grassley’s request for any and all records relating to a meeting involving the then-U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual with Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, Mr. Breuer’s deputy, and other officials in Mexico City in the summer of 2010 regarding “on-going investigationsâ€