A South Lyon man is the latest UAW leader to admit being part of an embezzlement scheme.
According to the U.S Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, 54-year-old Timothy Edmunds, the former Financial Secretary-Treasurer of Local 412 of the United Auto Workers union, pleaded guilty Saturday to embezzling $2.2 million in union funds and to money laundering
Authorities say that between 2011 and 2021, Edmunds “systematically drained” the Local 412 accounts of $2.2 million by using debit cards for over $142,000 in personal purchases, cashing checks worth $170,000 into accounts he personally controlled, and transferring $1.5 million into accounts that he personally controlled.
Edmunds is said to have used the money to “gamble extensively, to purchase firearms, and to purchase various high-end vehicles. For example, between 2018 and 2020, Edmunds used the UAW Local 412 debit card to make over $30,000 in unauthorized withdrawals at the Greektown Casino. While gambling at the Greektown Casino, records indicate that Edmunds had cash buy-ins of over $1 million, and he put over $16 million in play while gambling at the casino.”
To conceal his theft from other UAW officers and the Local 412 members, officials say Edmunds created false bank statements and caused false reports to be filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. Edmunds then reportedly supplied the fake bank statements to international UAW auditors in an effort to conceal his embezzlement.
Based on his conviction for embezzling union funds, Edmunds faces a maximum of ten years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. However, under the terms of a plea agreement, Edmunds faces between 46 to 57 months in prison.
He will also owe $1.9 million in restitution to the UAW. Although Edmunds admitted to embezzling $2.2 million in UAW funds, authorities say Edmunds returned approximately $300,000 in stolen UAW funds before his crimes were discovered.
Edmunds is the seventeenth defendant convicted in connection with the ongoing criminal investigation into corruption within the UAW or relating to illegal payoffs to UAW officials by FCA executives.
U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said the conviction demonstrates their “zealous pursuit of those who would seek to take advantage of their positions of trust within the UAW to steal and defraud union members.”
