Business Manager and Secretary-Treasurer of Iron Workers Local 201 Charged with Taking Kickbacks from the Wages of Public Works Employees | WPN World People News

The business manager and secretary-treasurer of Local 201 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union AFL-CIO (Iron Workers) based in Washington, D.C., was charged with taking kickbacks from public works employees at the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (Blue Plains).

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting Special Agent in Charge John J. Dolce of the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General’s Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations Washington, D.C., Regional Office and District Director Mark Wheeler of the Department of Labor’s Office of Labor Management Standards Washington, D.C., District Office made the announcement.

Juan Carlos Recinos, 40, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, the business manager and secretary-treasurer of Iron Workers Local 201, was charged by a grand jury in the District of Columbia with seven counts of taking kickbacks from public works employees. Recinos is scheduled to have his initial appearance at 1:30 p.m. EST before U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey of the District of Columbia.

The Iron Workers Local 201 represents workers known as “rodmen” who set rebar into concrete forms at construction sites in Washington, D.C., and adjacent counties. Prior to being elected business manager and secretary-treasurer of Local 201 in 2014, Recinos served as an organizer for Local 201.

The indictment alleges that, on seven instances between April and September 2013, Recinos knowingly induced rodmen who had received back pay awards from their employment at Blue Plains to give him part of their award, ranging from $500 to $3,800 in cash, by falsely representing that the rodmen owed money to an unnamed attorney. Recinos allegedly pocketed the money, in violation of the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act, which ensures that employees on public works projects receive all the wages to which they are entitled.

The charges and allegations contained in an indictment are merely accusations. The defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice