A former executive of Fiat-Chrysler, Alphons Iacobelli, has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of stealing millions of dollars from a union employee training center account while he worked with the automaker. He used the money for lavish gifts for himself and his United Auto Worker (UAW) main negotiating partner, General Holiefield. Holiefield was a vice president at UAW who led the negotiations with Fiat-Chrysler from 2008 to 2014. He passed away from cancer in 2015.
Monica Morgan, Holiefield’s widow who benefited from Iacobelli’s illegal payments of $1.2 million, and Fiat-Chrysler accountant Jerome Durden have also been charged with the crime. Three other Fiat-Chrysler employees were mentioned in the indictment, but their names have been withheld.
Although negotiations between unions and companies are often portrayed as adversarial, the industry has seen cases where union representatives and executives crossed lines to create illegal and private relationships. Volkswagen saw a similar case a decade ago, when an employee and union executive used funds for personal gain.
Both UAW and Fiat-Chrysler say they are cooperating with investigators.
Read more about the indictment here.
