Cocktails & Popcorn: Fat, Dumb & Happy - The Next Phase Of The UAW Corruption Climbs Up Another Rung On The TARP Ladder Of Stealin'

in Detroit

On this exciting episode of Cocktails & Popcorn, we have ascended another rung on the ladder of stealin' by exposing another layer of what it is like to be "Fat, Dumb & Happy" in Detroit.

I would be honored to meet the USAA who coined this profound phrase.

Feds charge ex-UAW leader in growing corruption scandal

Detroit — A former senior United Auto Workers official has been charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering, marking an expansion of a federal corruption investigation that has spread beyond Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.

Michael Grimes — who until last year served as administrative assistant to UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada — received $1.99 million in kickbacks from union vendors, according to the government.

Mike Grimes & Cindy Estrada

He and other unnamed union officials assigned to General Motors Co. were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and kickbacks from vendors who received contracts to produce promotional merchandise for the UAW, according to a criminal case unsealed Wednesday.

The criminal charges, which could send Grimes to federal prison for up to 20 years, help federal investigators pierce the inner circle of Estrada, a sitting UAW vice president and head of the union's FCA department who has been under scrutiny for almost two years. The case also expands the scope of a criminal investigation that, until now, focused on Fiat Chrysler executives trying to influence contract negotiations by giving UAW officials money, lavish trips and more.

The criminal filing Wednesday described old-school corruption and greed that deprived UAW members of honest leadership and involved officials in charge of the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources, a training center for blue-collar workers. The alleged scheme also defrauded the training center, prosecutors said.

“This is the first shoe to drop involving General Motors and the UAW,” said Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor and former federal prosecutor. "It raises the question of what kind of monitoring the UAW was doing, or was there any?"

The criminal case was filed four months after The Detroit News exclusively reported that federal investigators were reviewing whether UAW leaders received kickbacks after giving business executives contracts to produce union-branded clothes and trinkets.

Grimes is the ninth person charged in an ongoing investigation, and the criminal case embroils a training center for blue-collar workers jointly operated by the UAW and GM.

“Mike Grimes benefited only himself, not the UAW membership, and should be fully prosecuted to the extent of the law," union spokesman Brian Rothenberg wrote in an email to The News.

Joe Ashton & Cindy Estrada

The allegations involve a key UAW official who served alongside Estrada, who was assigned to the union's GM department until last year, when she was transferred to head the scandal-plagued Fiat Chrysler department. The News reported in November 2017 that federal investigators were interested in Joe Ashton, a retired UAW vice president appointed to GM’s board in 2014, and Estrada, his successor.

Ashton resigned from GM's board one month after The News report.

"GM has been fully cooperating with the government on its investigation of the UAW Center for Human Resources, and will continue to do so," a GM spokesman said Wednesday. "As a matter of practice, we do not comment on the specifics of an ongoing investigation."

Investigators have expanded the inquiry to all three Detroit automakers and also are focused on whether senior UAW staff were forced to contribute to accounts originally established to buy flowers for autoworkers' funerals, and whether union leaders kept the cash.

Grimes, 65, of Fort Myers, Florida, was charged in a criminal information, which indicates a guilty plea is expected. That could give federal prosecutors another key cooperator in the ongoing investigation.

“I am aware of the charges brought against Mr. Grimes,” Grimes' lawyer Michael Manley wrote in a text to The News. “There will be no comment on the charges or any potential resolution at this time.”

Grimes has not returned calls or message left by The News since April.

The criminal case focuses on self-dealing and kickbacks allegedly paid to union leaders for awarding deals for UAW-branded trinkets, including more than $3.9 million spent on commemorative watches that were never distributed to union members.

The alleged conspiracy started in 2006 and lasted until July 2018, according to the government. During that time, Grimes worked alongside Estrada and served on the UAW-GM training center board alongside Ashton and others. He was paid $150,574 a year.

The scheme described by prosecutors involved Grimes and two unnamed union officials allegedly enriching themselves by deceptively soliciting, influencing and obtaining contracts for two vendors. One contractor, identified by the government as "Vendor A," owned a family-operated business that sold American-made custom logo products, including clothes and accessories.

The second contractor, identified as "Vendor B," was a chiropractor based in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. The chiropractor treated one of the unnamed union officials for years.

Ashton, 71, lives in Ocean View, New Jersey.

In August 2012, the chiropractor opened a new business that purportedly sold American-made custom watches. The company's only income came from the UAW and the training center operated with GM.

During the alleged conspiracy, Grimes and the two unnamed UAW officials demanded and accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from the two vendors, prosecutors said.

In 2006, Grimes recommended "Vendor A" provide 23,000 watches to the UAW-GM training center, according to court records. After awarding the contract, Grimes demanded a loan to buy property in Rose Township in northern Oakland County, prosecutors said. The vendor refused and Grimes threatened to cancel the watch contract, according to court records.

"Fearing economic harm to his company, Vendor A agreed to provide a mortgage for $60,000 so that Michael Grimes could buy the property," prosecutors wrote. The vendor also agreed to pay Grimes $1,800 per month for consulting work. The monthly payments rose to $3,800 per month and continued until Grimes retired in July 2018, according to the government.

Grimes also demanded bribes in exchange for not interfering with the vendor's business, according to prosecutors. To hide the bribes, the vendor wrote checks payable to "KKG Consulting," which prosecutors called a sham company. State business records show the company was created by Grimes' wife Karen in 2001.

Karen Grimes
Karen Grimes (Photo: Lee County Sheriff's Office)

From 2010 through 2017, the vendor paid Grimes almost $900,000, prosecutors said, adding that Grimes was involved in another tainted contract in 2011.

This time, an unnamed UAW official identified as "Union Official 1" proposed buying 50,000 "Team UAW-GM" jackets using training center funds. Grimes recommended steering the contract to "Vendor A," prosecutors said.

The vendor later received a $6 million contract. A second unnamed union official directed Grimes to demand an approximately $300,000 kickback for "Union Official 1" prosecutors said. The official received the money in 2012.

Grimes also demanded a $525,000 kickback and threatened to cancel the jacket contract, prosecutors said. Grimes later increased his demand and received $530,000 from the vendor, which he spent paying off property in Fenton, according to the government.

In 2016, Grimes received a $500,000 kickback from the same vendor in exchange for awarding a $5.8 million contract to provide backpacks for UAW members, prosecutors said. The money was funneled through Karen Grimes' sham company, according to the government.

Grimes also received money from another watch contract involving the Pennsylvania chiropractor, prosecutors said.

In 2012, "Union Official 1" told the chiropractor to create a new company so the UAW could buy more than 50,000 watches.

The next year, the UAW-GM training center awarded a $3.97 million contract to the vendor for 58,000 watches. In May 2013, "Union Official 1" demanded a $250,000 kickback, money that was hand-delivered to the union official's home, prosecutors said. A second UAW official also received kickbacks from the watch vendor, according to the government.

To conceal the scheme, the watch vendor wrote "antique furniture" or "furniture" in the memo line of the checks. The second UAW official split some of the money with Grimes, prosecutors said.

The watch contract kickbacks continued until fall 2016, when news broke about the federal corruption investigation involving the UAW and Fiat Chrysler.

"Union Official 1" met with the watch vendor and said "the payments had to stop because of the UAW/Fiat Chrysler investigation," prosecutors said.

The UAW-GM training center received the watches anyway. The 58,000 watches are not on UAW member wrists, however — they are being stored in a warehouse at the training center.

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Lee Iacocca Lives On In Detroit

I remember meeting him in Sarasota, Florida when Chrysler was completing a 10% interests purchase of Lamborghini.

The Lamborghini engines were used in the Scarab power boats.

The dope man loved those boats because they could blow law enforcement on the water.

Automotive industry icon Lee Iacocca dies at 94

DETROIT (AP) - The automotive business world has lost a titan.

Lee Iacocca, the auto executive and master pitchman who put the Mustang in Ford's lineup in the 1960s and became a corporate folk hero when he resurrected Chrysler 20 years later, has died in Bel Air, California. He was 94.

Two former Chrysler executives who worked with him, Bud Liebler, the company's former spokesman, and Bob Lutz, formerly its head of product development, said they were told of the death Tuesday by a close associate of Iacocca's family.

In his 32-year career at Ford and then Chrysler, Iacocca helped launch some of Detroit's best-selling and most significant vehicles, including the minivan, the Chrysler K-cars and the Ford Escort. He also spoke out against what he considered unfair trade practices by Japanese automakers.

The son of Italian immigrants, Iacocca reached a level of celebrity matched by few auto moguls. During the peak of his popularity in the '80s, he was famous for his TV ads and catchy tagline: "If you can find a better car, buy it!" He wrote two best-selling books and was courted as a presidential candidate.

But he will be best remembered as the blunt-talking, cigar-chomping Chrysler chief who helped engineer a great corporate turnaround.

Liebler, who worked for Iacocca for a decade, said he had a larger-than-life presence that commanded attention. "He sucked the air out of the room whenever he walked into it," Liebler said. "He always had something to say. He was a leader."

In recent years Iacocca was battling Parkinson's Disease, but Liebler was not sure what caused his death.

He remembers that Iacocca could condemn employees if they did something he didn't like, but a few minutes later it would be like nothing had happened.

"He used to beat me up, sometimes in public," Liebler remembered. When people asked how he could put up with that, Liebler would answer: "He'll get over it."

In 1979, Chrysler was floundering in $5 billion of debt. It had a bloated manufacturing system that was turning out gas-guzzlers that the public didn't want.

When the banks turned him down, Iacocca and the United Auto Workers union helped persuade the government to approve $1.5 billion in loan guarantees that kept the No. 3 domestic automaker afloat.

Liebler said Iacocca is the last of an era of brash, charismatic executives who could produce results. "Lee made money. He went to Washington and made all these crazy promises, then he delivered on them," Liebler said.

Iacocca wrung wage concessions from the union, closed or consolidated 20 plants, laid off thousands of workers and introduced new cars. In TV commercials, he admitted Chrysler's mistakes but insisted the company had changed.

The strategy worked. The bland, basic Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant were affordable, fuel-efficient and had room for six. In 1981, they captured 20% of the market for compact cars. In 1983, Chrysler paid back its government loans, with interest, seven years early.

The following year, Iacocca introduced the minivan and created a new market.

The turnaround and Iacocca's bravado made him a media star. His "Iacocca: An Autobiography," released in 1984, and his "Talking Straight," released in 1988, were best-sellers. He even appeared on "Miami Vice."

A January 1987 Gallup Poll of potential Democratic presidential candidates for 1988 showed Iacocca was preferred by 14%, second only to Colorado Sen. Gary Hart. He continually said no to "draft Iacocca" talk.

Also during that time, he headed the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, presiding over the renovation of the statue, completed in 1986, and the reopening of nearby Ellis Island as a museum of immigration in 1990.

But in the years before his retirement in 1992, Chrysler's earnings and Iacocca's reputation faltered. Following the lead of Ford and General Motors, he undertook a risky diversification into the defense and aviation industries, but it failed to help the bottom line.

Still, he could take credit for such decisions as the 1987 purchase of American Motors Corp. Although the $1.5 billion acquisition was criticized at the time, AMC's Jeep brand has become a gold mine for now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as demand for SUVs surged.

Iacocca was born Lido Anthony Iacocca in 1924 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. His father, Nicola, became rich in real estate and other businesses, but the family lost nearly everything in the Depression.

After earning a master's degree in mechanical engineering at Princeton University, Iacocca began his career as an engineering trainee with Ford in 1946. But the extrovert quickly became bored and took the unconventional step of switching to sales.

He said a turning point in his career came in 1956, when he was assistant sales manager of the Philadelphia district office ranked last in Ford sales nationwide. Iacocca's devised a financing plan called "56 for 56," under which customers could buy a 1956 Ford for 20% down and payments of $56 a month for three years. The district's sales shot to the top, and Iacocca was quickly promoted to a national marketing job at company headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan.

By 1960, at age 36, Iacocca was vice president and general manager of the Ford division.

"We were young and cocky," he recalled in his autobiography. "We saw ourselves as artists, about to produce the finest masterpieces the world had ever seen."

Iacocca's first burst of fame came with the debut of the Mustang in 1964. He had convinced his superiors that Ford needed the affordable, stylish coupe to take advantage of the growing youth market.

He broke from tradition by launching the car in April rather than the fall. Ford invited reporters to a 70-car Mustang rally from New York to Dearborn, which generated huge publicity. The car made the covers of Time and Newsweek the same week.

In 1970, Iacocca was named Ford president and immediately undertook a restructuring to cut costs as the company struggled with foreign competition and rising gas prices. Iacocca's relationship with Chairman Henry Ford II became strained, and in 1978, Ford fired Iacocca. Henry Ford II later described Iacocca as "an extremely intelligent product man, a super salesman" who was "too conceited, too self-centered to be able to see the broad picture," according to interview transcripts published by The Detroit News.

The Mocca Cocca Crew

Iacocca got the last laugh. He was strongly courted by Chrysler, and he helped cement its turnaround in the 1980s by introducing the wildly successful Dodge Caravan and Plymouth Voyager minivans.

In July 2005, Iacocca returned to the airwaves as Chrysler's pitchman, including a memorable ad in which he played golf with rapper Snoop Dogg.

Chrysler wasn't faring well. In his 2007 book "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" Iacocca criticized Chrysler's 1998 sale to the Germany's Daimler AG, which gutted much of Chrysler to cut costs.

As the recession began, sales worsened, and soon Chrysler was asking for a second government bailout. In April 2009, it filed for bankruptcy protection.

"It pains me to see my old company, which has meant so much to America, on the ropes," Iacocca said.

Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy protection under the control of Italian automaker Fiat. In a 2009 interview with The Associated Press, he urged Chrysler executives to "take care of our customers. That's the only solid thing you have."

Iacocca was also active in later years in raising money to fight diabetes. His first wife, Mary, died of complications of the disease in 1983 after 27 years of marriage. The couple had two daughters, Kathryn and Lia.

Iacocca remarried twice, but both marriages ended in divorce.

Bill Ford, Executive Chairman, Ford Motor Company released a statement:

"Lee Iacocca was truly bigger than life and he left an indelible mark on Ford, the auto industry and our country. Lee played a central role in the creation of Mustang. On a personal note, I will always appreciate how encouraging he was to me at the beginning of my career. He was one of a kind and will be dearly missed."

Fiat Chrysler also released a statement on his death:

"The Company is saddened by the news of Lee Iacocca's passing. He played a historic role in steering Chrysler through crisis and making it a true competitive force. He was one of the great leaders of our company and the auto industry as a whole.  He also played a profound and tireless role on the national stage as a business statesman and philanthropist.

Lee gave us a mindset that still drives us today -- one that is characterized by hard work, dedication and grit. We are committed to ensuring that Chrysler, now FCA, is such a company, an example of commitment and respect, known for excellence as well as for its contribution to society.  His legacy is the resiliency and unshakeable faith in the future that live on in the men and women of FCA who strive every day to live up to the high standards he set."

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Cocktails & Popcorn: DOJ, Fiat Chrysler, UAW, TARP & Public Corruption Covert Activities In Detroit

The following is from the U.S. Treasury on TARP Auto Bailout on Chrysler:

Chrysler

In total, Treasury committed $12.5 billion to Chrysler under TARP. Under the loan agreement, Chrysler was required to implement a viable restructuring plan. In March 2009, the Administration determined that the business plan submitted by Chrysler failed to meet that standard and concluded that Chrysler was not viable as a stand‐alone company. The Administration subsequently determined that Chrysler could achieve viability by partnering with the international car company Fiat. As part of the planned restructuring, in April 2009, Chrysler filed for bankruptcy protection. In May 2009, Treasury provided $1.9 billion to Chrysler (Old Chrysler) under a debtor‐in‐possession financing agreement for assistance during its bankruptcy proceeding.Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy in June 2009 as a newly formed entity, Chrysler Group LLC (New Chrysler). Since then, Chrysler has lowered its structural costs, adopted new technologies, rejuvenated its product line, and rebuilt its brands. As of April 2011, the company had achieved five consecutive quarters of operating profit and on March 31, 2011, Chrysler realized its first quarter of positive net income since exiting bankruptcy. More than $11.2 billion of the $12.5 billion committed to Chrysler has been returned to taxpayers through principal repayments, interest, and cancelled commitments.

The following is from Wikileaks Podesta email on the bait and switch TARP scheme using the auto industry.

Now, we have what I see is a preservation of institutions by going after individual rogue actors.

This is what this the theme DOJ is going after, but I wonder where this investigation will take up.

Stay tuned and get your popcorn.

Feds label Fiat Chrysler, UAW as co-conspirators 

FILING ALLEGES YEARS OF VIOLATIONS OF LABOR MANAGEMENT RELATIONS ACT

Detroit — Federal prosecutors labeled the United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV as co-conspirators in a widening corruption scandal, an allegation at odds with claims the labor union and automaker were victimized by rogue employees.

The allegation, contained in a federal court plea agreement obtained by The Detroit News on Tuesday, potentially exposes the automaker and the UAW — a cornerstone of the modern American automotive industry — to criminal charges, fines and governmental oversight, according to a former federal prosecutor.

"This does not bode well for Fiat Chrysler and the UAW,"  said Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor. "All along, the union and Fiat Chrysler have portrayed themselves as victims, but this indicates the government has a different view."

Federal prosecutors say the union and Fiat Chrysler conspired from before 2009 through 2015 to violate the Labor Management Relations Act and the automaker enabled nepotism to flourish at a blue-collar training center. The law prohibits employers or those working for them from paying, lending or delivering money or other valuables to officers or employees of labor organizations — and from labor leaders from accepting such items.

"From in or before 2009 through 2015, FCA executives conspired with one another, with FCA, with officials at the UAW, and with the UAW, to violate the Labor Management Relations Act," prosecutors wrote in the court filing.

It's the first time FCA and the union have been identified separately from individuals in the case. The government has not brought charges against either the company or the union.

The federal claim of a high-level conspiracy between Detroit’s No. 3 automaker and its most important union comes as 3,000 delegates and union members are gathered this week for the UAW’s quadrennial constitutional convention – and to elect a new slate of officers that has been shaped by the abrupt retirements of two would-be officers amid the ongoing federal probe.

The allegation is the latest development in a widening federal investigation that has led to criminal charges againstseven people, caused upheaval at the top ranks of the auto industry and raised questions about the sanctity of labor negotiations.

The allegation emerged in court documents filed as part of a plea agreement for former Fiat Chrysler executive Michael Brown, 60, of West Bloomfield Township, who helped run the training center, knew about the conspiracy and that Iacobelli and at least four other unnamed Fiat Chrysler officials were funneling more than $1.5 million worth of illegal payments to UAW officials, prosecutors allege.

"Michael Brown knew that the purpose of the conspiracy to provide prohibited payments to UAW officials was to grease the skids in order to obtain benefits, advantages and concessions in the negotiation, implementation and administration of the collective bargaining agreements between FCA and the UAW," prosecutors wrote in the federal court filing. 

The conspiracy described by prosecutors spanned three administrations at the UAW: Presidents Ron Gettelfinger, Bob King and Dennis Williams, who will retire this week during the union's convention at Cobo Center.

UAW president Dennis Williams 

The allegation emerged almost one year into a prosecution that has led to six convictions, including former Fiat Chrysler Vice President Alphons Iacobelli. The case has revealed a cozy relationship between the automaker and the union, long-time adversaries, who prosecutors allege forged a relationship designed to corrupt the bargaining process and implementation of a labor contract for thousands of workers.

"Will this go any higher in the union or the company is the question left dangling here," Henning said. "For union members, they will be especially perturbed by this, that the union colluded with the company."

Alphons Iacobelli

Some of the illegal benefits previously detailed by prosecutors include a $365,000 Ferrari that Iacobelli purchased with money meant for the training center and two bejeweled Montblanc fountain pens that cost $35,700 each. 

Monica Morgan and
her late husband General Holiefield.

Other illegal payments included more than $435,000 to a company controlled by the late UAW Vice President General Holiefield and his widow, Monica Morgan-Holiefield; $262,000 to pay off Holiefield's mortgage and more than $30,000 in flights for Morgan-Holiefield to Miami, Las Vegas and Los Angeles, according to prosecutors. The expenses, paid for by the jointly-operated UAW-Chrysler National Training Center, used money provided by the automaker, the government says.

More than $30,000 was spent throwing a party in August 2014 for former UAW Vice President Norwood Jewell, The News has learned. The party included "ultra premium" liquor, strolling models who lit labor leaders’ cigars and a $3,000 tab for wine in bottles with custom labels that featured Jewell’s name.

Jewell, 60, of Davison, has not been charged with a crime during the ongoing investigation.

More illegal payments bankrolled private accommodations, golf resort fees and lavish meals in Palm Springs, Calif., for Jewell and his top administrative assistant, Nancy Adams Johnson, according to the government. Again, the expenses were paid by the training center with money from Fiat Chrysler.

Former UAW official, Nancy Adams Johnson

A UAW spokesman declined comment and referred to Williams' speech at the UAW Constitutional Convention on Monday, Williams tried to distance the union from the corruption described by prosecutors.

"To be clear: those who misallocated or misused training center funds betrayed our trust," Williams told thousands of union members Monday at Cobo Center. "The UAW has zero tolerance for corruption, wrongdoing, at any level of the organization.

"Now, our leadership team had no knowledge of the misconduct — which involved former union members and former auto executives — until it was brought to our attention by the government."

Norwood Jewell, UAW V.P. of the FCA US

Jewell was linked publicly to the criminal investigation in August, when The News learned he had received a $2,180 shotgun purchased with union training center funds. He announced his surprise retirement in November and remained on the job until January.

“What took place with the people that had been indicted flies in the face of UAW culture," said Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California-Berkeley who specializes in labor and the global economy. "The reality is all human organizations are subject to issues of corruption. What’s critical is how the organization responds. And in this case, the UAW has been unambiguous.”

A Fiat Chrysler spokeswoman declined comment Tuesday and referred to previous comments by CEO Sergio Marchionne.

"I join Dennis Williams, the UAW President, in expressing my disgust at the conduct alleged in the indictment which constitutes the most egregious breach of trust by the individuals involved," Marchionne wrote in a letter last year to Fiat Chrysler employees. "This conduct had nothing whatsoever to do with the collective bargaining process, but rather involved two bad actors who apparently saw an opportunity to misappropriate funds entrusted to their control and who, unfortunately, co-opted other individuals to carry out or conceal their activities over a period of several years."

Marchionne has a criminal defense lawyer and has been questioned by federal investigators.

Marchionne was questioned during a private meeting in July 2016 with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in downtown Detroit, sources familiar with the investigation said. The Italian auto executive was escorted to the meeting by his white-collar, criminal defense lawyer, William Jeffress of the Washington, D.C., law firm Baker Botts.

Jeffress is a prominent white-collar defense lawyer who handled post-Watergate legal matters for President Richard Nixon and defended Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff I. Scooter Libby in a high-profile CIA leak trial.

Marchionne, 65, has not been charged with a crime during an ongoing federal grand jury investigation that has expanded in recent months to include training centers funded by all three Detroit automakers. 

Retired United Auto Workers
General Motors Vice President Joe Ashton

In November, The News reported that federal agents were interested in retired UAW Vice President Joe Ashton, who abruptly resigned from the board of General Motors Co. in December, and Cindy Estrada, his successor in charge of the union’s GM department, who is up for re-election Wednesday.

The alleged conspiracy involving the UAW and Fiat Chrysler could end in a settlement with the government that would require new internal controls, fines or an injunction, Henning said.

"There could be some kind of admission that they failed to oversee what was being done at the training center," Henning said.  "Or there could be an agreement to undertake certain measures to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Federal oversight of the UAW could be unprecedented for a union long considered a “clean union” – but not for organized labor. In 1988, the Justice Department sued the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, charging it with labor racketeering in a bid to stamp out corruption and Mafia influence at the union’s highest levels. Prosecutors have not taken any of those steps with the UAW.

A fight for money central to the criminal case involving the UAW and Fiat Chrysler has intensified in recent days. The UAW-Chrysler National Training Center sued Iacobelli and others Friday to recoup $4.4 million it claims was embezzled during the scheme.

During the time of the conspiracy described by prosecutors, Fiat Chrysler executives authorized Holiefield and other UAW officials to offer sham employment at the training center to friends, relatives and allies, according to the court filing.

At the direction of Holiefield and other UAW officials, "numerous individuals were categorized as being on 'special assignment' status to the (training center) when, in fact, those individuals did little work or no work on behalf of the (training center)," prosecutors wrote.

UAW Vice President Cindy Estrada

No relatives are identified by name in the court filing.

Two of Jewell's sons are servicing representatives with the union, according to the UAW's annual filings. Justin Jewell is paid $125,744 while Derik Jewell's total compensation is $116,726.

Allegations of nepotism are not limited to the UAW-Chrysler training center. GM and the UAW operate the Center for Human Resources training center in Detroit. So many relatives of UAW officials have worked there that some dub the facility the "Center for Hidden Relatives."

Details about nepotism within the UAW training centers emerged in 2015 when former Center for Human Resources receptionist Shannan McDonald , unsuccessfully sued the training center. McDonald claimed she was forced to resign after being discriminated against due to a disability.

Estrada was deposed in April 2016.

“Ms. Estrada, do you have a daughter or step-daughter named Tara?” McDonald’s lawyer Jeffrey Burg asked during the deposition.

“Tara White,” Estrada said.

“What is she to you?” the lawyer asked.

“She’s my step-daughter,” Estrada said.

“And is Tara White working for (the training center) now?” the lawyer said.

“Yes, she is,” Estrada said.

“Is she working the receptionist job that Shannan had occupied before Shannan left?” the lawyer asked.

“Yes,” Estrada said.

Days earlier, the lawyer deposed John Ashton,  a facility manager at the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources.

“Who is Joe Ashton?” the lawyer asked.

“He's my uncle,” John Ashton said.

“And did your uncle Joe Ashton assist in any way in getting you the job at (the training center)?” Burg asked.

“Yes,” John Ashton said.

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