FBI agents have seized fur coats, alligator shoes, a $57,000 Tiffany tea set, a $13,000 plasma TV set, and hundreds of other luxury items from the homes and offices of the former president of the Washington (D.C) Teachers' Union and her assistant as part of an investigation into the disappearance of over $2 million in union funds over the past several years. While union president Barbara Bullock was racking up bills for custom clothing ($500,000), dry cleaning and clothing storage ($25,000), and designer shoes ($11,000), the union was neglecting to pay rent and telephone bills, to reimburse building representatives for up to $600,000 in dues, to contribute to the pension fund for union staff members (budgeted at $100,000 a year), and to pay premiums to health care providers for retired teachers, and was erroneously deducting a total of about $700,000 in dues from members' paychecks. Charges have not yet been brought in the case, which was launched in September after union officials discovered financial irregularities and reported the problem to the U.S. attorney's office.
"Union Tardy Paying Bills, Premiums, Sources Say," by Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post, December 25, 2002
"FBI Lists Evidence Seized in Union Case," by Neely Tucker and Justin Blum, The Washington Post, December 24, 2002
To view the FBI affidavit in support of the search warrant for the homes and offices of the leaders of the Washington Teachers' Union, surf to http://www.dcwatch.com/schools/ps021218.htm