Federal FCA-Union Probe Widens

METRO DETROIT, MI — A retired UAW official was charged with being involved in a conspiracy that stole millions of dollars in autoworker training funds in U.S. District Court on Friday. Virdell King, a one-time associate director of the UAW, was arraigned on information and is believed to be working on a plea deal with the federal government, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Charges against King are part of a larger federal corruption investigation involving Fiat Chrysler executives and union leaders. Last month, former Fiat Chrysler labor Chief Alphons Iacobelli, of Rochester Hills, was charged with taking part in a multi-year conspiracy to pay and deliver prohibited money and things of value to union officers.

Monica Morgan, of Harrison Township, was charged with conspiring with Iacobelli and others to violate the Labor Management Relations Act. Morgan is the wife of former UAW Vice President General Holiefield, who died in March of 2015.

If convicted, Iacobelli’s home could be seized by federal authorities to help repay $1.2 million in prohibited payments to Morgan and Holiefield. The former executive is also charged with using about $1 million in funds from the UAW-Chrysler National Training Center.

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Iacobelli was charged with diverting those funds to pay for: a Ferrari 458 Spider automobile costing more than $350,000; leasing a private jet; two limited edition Mont Blanc pens costing $37,500 each; a pool and hundreds of thousands of dollars in improvements to his residence; and hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal credit card expenses, among other purchases.

Morgan was also charged with using the company’s Monica Morgan Photography, Wilson’s Diversified Products, and a third company to conceal payments made by Iacobelli and others acting in the interest of FCA to UAW Vice President Holiefield and with failing to report the income she received through those companies on her individual tax returns.

As for King, federal officials believe she used a credit card meant to be used for training center business to buy a union official a $2,180 shotgun, the Detroit News reported. The UAW confirmed the gift to Vice President Norwood Jewell in a statement to the newspaper, but said that he had reimbursed the funds to the training center last year. The union also said it is cooperating with authorities on the investigation.

File photo