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Teamster dental plan probed
Chicago Tribune ^ | January 2, 2005 | Todd Lighty and Stephen Franklin

Posted on 01/02/2005 6:51:15 AM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John

The FBI is investigating whether hundreds of thousands of dollars were siphoned from a Teamsters benefit plan that provides dental care to Chicago-area undertakers and valets, according to sources.

The criminal investigation is the first indication that law enforcement authorities are acting upon an internal Teamsters union report alleging that money may have been diverted from Local 727's dental plan from 1993 to early 2000.

Using the Teamsters report as a blueprint, agents with the FBI's organized crime unit have conducted several interviews, including talks with at least two dentists. Also guided by the report, a grand jury in September issued a subpoena to Harris Bank for records tied to the dental plan's accounts, according to a bank spokeswoman.

The Teamsters report alleged that 30 percent of all the money companies paid to provide dental and vision care for their unionized workers supposedly went for "grossly excessive" administrative costs and fees.

The report also raised concerns about payments from the plan to "persons and entities ... having had ties to organized crime figures, been implicated in racketeering schemes or both."

If true, rank-and-file Teamsters probably received less in hourly wages because employers unknowingly overfunded a dental plan so that money could be diverted into the pockets of others, according to investigators who worked on the Teamsters report.

The allegations potentially have far-reaching meaning for the corruption-tainted Teamsters union because they involve Local 727, which is lead by John Coli, a union powerbroker in Chicago and nationally.

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: johncoli; teamsters; unioncorruption; unions

1 posted on 01/02/2005 6:51:16 AM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
"Hey, you don't like it? We'll knock your teeth out!"........heard in South Philly
2 posted on 01/02/2005 6:53:19 AM PST by lindor (If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of Progress?)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John

Union thugs looting the worker's funds? Would a thunk? And from the honest Chicago are no lees. And the sterling mafia free Teamsters. Shezam!


3 posted on 01/02/2005 6:54:36 AM PST by FormerACLUmember (Free Republic is 21st Century Samizdat)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John

Union thugs looting the worker's funds? Would a thunk? And from the honest Chicago area no less. And the sterling mafia-free Teamsters. Shezam!


4 posted on 01/02/2005 6:55:01 AM PST by FormerACLUmember (Free Republic is 21st Century Samizdat)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
I've never understood how the government has been waging war on the Cosa Nostra, but not the Teamsters bosses.
Or was I being redundant?
5 posted on 01/02/2005 6:55:04 AM PST by wolfpat
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John

Hoffa may be dead, his methods are alive!


6 posted on 01/02/2005 7:23:37 AM PST by William of Orange (I'm John Kerry and I approve this message. No I don't. Yes I do. No I don't. Yes I do. Maybe, not.)
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John

I've found that dental probes can be rather painful.


7 posted on 01/02/2005 7:25:02 AM PST by Clara Lou (Hillary Clinton: "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.")
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To: William of Orange
Hey, they get points for originality. Usually it's pension funds that are raided by union officials/mobsters. Now it's dental plans.

But really, this isn't a problem, since the Teamsters represent the "working man." /sarcasm

8 posted on 01/02/2005 7:35:55 AM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John

Its always "da Teamstas"


9 posted on 01/02/2005 7:47:09 AM PST by Eric in the Ozarks
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
The dentist fraud reminds me of 1971's Diamonds are Forever:


10 posted on 01/02/2005 7:49:23 AM PST by krb (TANSTAAFB)
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