Former Business Manager Pleads Guilty to Stealing $1.7 Million from Labor Union, Unlawful Labor Payments, Fraud and Money Laundering

A former business manager of Local 657 of the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) pleaded guilty today to stealing $1.7 million from Local 657 and related offenses. 

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Washington, D.C., Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Robin Blake of the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General Washington, D.C., Regional Office and District Director Mark Wheeler of the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards Washington, D.C., District Office made the announcement.  

Anthony Wendel Frederick Sr., 50, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit theft from a labor organization, one count of conspiracy to receive unlawful labor payments, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of money laundering, as part of a 45-count indictment against Frederick and two co-defendants.  Frederick pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta of the District of Columbia.

LIUNA’s Local 657 is a labor organization that represents construction laborers in Washington, D.C., and five adjacent counties.  Frederick served as the business manager for Local 657 for approximately 10 years until June 2014.

In pleading guilty, Frederick admitted that from May 2013 to June 2014, he directed more than $1.7 million in Local 657 funds to STS Contracting of Greenbelt, Maryland, without the knowledge or authorization of the Local 657 Executive Board or LIUNA International officials.  Frederick also admitted that officials in STS General Contracting made a number of financial payments to Frederick with the funds stolen from Local 657, including a down payment of $225,000 on a home that Frederick purchased and construction of a three-car garage on the property, and directed more than $600,000 to a corporation owned in part by Frederick’s wife.

The FBI and the Department of Labor investigated the case.  Trial Attorneys Vincent Falvo and David Karpel of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section are prosecuting the case.