Union and Port Employee Arrested in $1.2M Puerto Rico Extortion Scheme

The Maritime Executive ^

[ameribbean expat]

U.S. authorities in Puerto Rico arrested the president of the longshore union local, a port employee, and five others on charges of organized crime and extorting more than $1.2 million from shipping companies in the San Jun as well as cheating the union benefits fund. With a list of charges reading like the famed 1950s waterfront cases, the U.S. attorney said the FBI-led investigation showed the scheme had been operating since at least 2005.

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According to the indictment, they were running a criminal enterprise dedicated to extorting and misleading shipping companies into paying fees for the loading and unloading of cargo at the Port of San Juan. They were demanding “fees” from the shipping companies to be able to use “union-free labor” for the loading and unloading of cargo. The individuals were threatening the shipping companies with strikes and blockades by members of the ILA union’s local ILA-1740.

Monies received from the shipping companies they allege were divided by JCPY and payments to the ILA-1740’s employee benefit plan.

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In addition to the extortion scheme, the indictment also charges a false work scheme in which the union card of Clemente-Rivera, a member of ILA-1740, was passed to other individuals who would show it on the docks to make it appear that Clemente-Rivera was working. The hours worked were fraudulently counted for Clemente-Rivera’s yearly-hour requirement to qualify for benefits from the union plan.

[Ex gun maker.]

Union thuggery?
Nah cannot be, Unions are saintly supporters of Joe Bidet’ and the rest of the liberal machine. /s

I do “Watch for the Union label”.
If I find one I buy another brand.

[texas booster]

A federal grand jury in Puerto Rico returned the incidents on Monday for charges of RICO conspiracy, a Hobbs Act extortion conspiracy, violations of the Taft-Hartley labor law, money laundering, and mail and wire fraud.

Among the individuals named in the seven-count indictment was the president of the International Longshoremen’s Association, AFL-CIO union local ILA-1740 Carlos Sánchez-Ortiz, an employee of the Puerto Rico Port Authority Jorge Batista-Maldonado, and Pedro Pastrana-González and his ex-wife, Iara Clemente-Rivera, owners and managers of JCPY, Inc. the local stevedores company. Three other members of the union were also named in the indictment.

Adding in a bit more detail about the company involved. Seems strange - the union extorting shippers to use non-union labor.

[texas booster]

Another tidbit from the article:

“These fraudulent actions resulted in people improperly receiving benefits they were not eligible for, hurting thousands of Puerto Ricans who worked tirelessly to earn those benefits honestly and legally,” said Ali Khawar, Acting Assistant Secretary of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). “When anyone commits a crime involving an employee benefit plan, EBSA will make sure they are brought to justice.”. HA!

This court action, for such a "small" set of criminals, tells me that:
1. Somebody in DC is generating headlines, hoping (expecting?) a promotion, and
2. That these bit players in PR are the fall guys for someone much bigger, and are deemed expendable.

Or didn't pay off the proper people now in charge.

[mad_as_he$$]

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