A month after Edward H. Gobbo got out of bankruptcy, Washington Federal Bank for Savings CEO John F. Gembara starting giving him millions more in loans, records show. When the bank went bust, Gobbo or his immediate family owed over $3.8 million on 27 residential loans, some years overdue.
Ex-state Sen. Thomas Cullerton pleaded guilty last summer to embezzling funds from a labor union and was sentenced to more than a year in prison. But he was released early and 11 days later, he registered as a lobbyist with a public relations and government affairs firm.
In appointing a trustee to manage the local, Teamsters International President Sean O’Brien raised questions about $1.3 million in spending dating from 2018.
Authorities say they’ve recovered $59 million toward the money lost when they shut down Washington Federal Bank for Savings, but they’re still out another $81 million, records show.