Philadelphia IBEW Contractor Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud, Theft
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For Donald Dougherty, the old habits wouldn’t go away. That’s why he’s likely to go to prison. On January 21, Dougherty, a Philadelphia-based electrical contractor, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to one count each of tax fraud and theft related to his work with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98. Several members of that Philadelphia union were indicted by a grand jury two years ago. Dougherty and an accountant for his firm, Michael McKale, were indicted separately this past November 25 on multiple fraud and theft charges. The actions follow a joint probe by the FBI, the IRS and the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards, Employee Benefits Security Administration, and Office of Inspector General.
Philadelphia Donald Dougherty, of Philadelphia, PA, entered a plea of guilty today before United States District Court Judge Michael M. Baylson. Dougherty, the owner of Dougherty Electric, Inc., ( DEI ), a well-established Philadelphia-based electrical contractor, pleaded guilty to one count of filing a false federal income tax return and one count of theft of employee benefit funds.
On November 25, 2020, Dougherty was charged by Indictment with multiple charges of bank fraud, tax fraud and theft from employee benefit plans. Also charged with tax fraud was Michael McKale, an accountant who worked for Dougherty. Under the plea agreement between Dougherty and the government announced today, in addition to pleading guilty to tax fraud and theft of union benefit funds, the defendant has agreed to pay $92,913 in taxes due to the Internal Revenue Service, arising from false business deductions for what were actually expenditures for Dougherty s personal benefit. The defendant also agr
Top Ten Union Corruption Stories of the Year
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If one form of union corruption dominated 2020, it was benefit fraud. And there were quite a few huge hauls. In California, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union-Pacific Maritime Association health plan was fleeced twice over. In one case, four persons made off with $3 million. In the other, a Los Angeles-area chiropractor, Mahyar David Yadidi aided by two associates, collected reimbursements worth $4.8 million for nonexistent or unnecessary services. That’s not even including a separate $3 million ILWU scam resulting in sentences for three persons back in 2019. In New York City, executives of the Navillus construction firm were indicted for their roles in a scheme allegedly depriving members of over $1 million in retirement benefits. And in a shocker, an external audit and a long internal memo accused longtime International Association of Fire Fighters President Harold Schaitberger and another IAFF official of mis