Labor Union PAC Fund Manager Indicted for Embezzling $502,586
Greenbelt, Maryland - A federal grand jury indicted Cora Carper, age 32, of Churchton, Maryland, today on charges of embezzlement.
The indictment was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and District Director Mark Wheeler of the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor - Management Standards.
The International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers (Insulators) is a labor union headquartered in Lanham, Maryland. Insulators represents approximately 21,700 members who worked in the insulation industry in the United States and Canada.
The six count indictment alleges that prior to June 2009, Carper became the Insulator’s Political Action Committee (PAC) fund manager. The PAC fund was funded by voluntary contributions of Insulators’ members and used for political contributions. As PAC fund manager, Carper documented all PAC fund activity in a computerized file, and did not have authority to issue checks from the PAC fund that were not requested by an Insulators’ officer.
According to the indictment, from at least June 2009 to February 2011, Carper wrote more than 300 unauthorized checks to cash from the Insulators’ PAC fund totaling approximately $502,586 for her personal use. Carper allegedly signed the back of the checks made out to cash underneath where she fraudulently placed the signature of the Insulators’ treasurer.
The indictment seeks forfeiture of at least $502,586.
Carper faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison. An initial appearance has not yet been scheduled.
An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Labor - Management Standards for its work in the investigation and thanked Assistant United States Attorney Kristi N. O’Malley, who is prosecuting the case.
