Latest news with #UFLAC
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New audit flags more than $200,000 in spending by former LAFD union president
The parent organization of the Los Angeles Fire Department's labor union has doubled down on allegations that the union's top official failed to properly document hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit card transactions. The International Assn. of Fire Fighters, which oversees the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, suspended President Freddy Escobar and two other union officials last month over 'serious problems' with missing receipts identified in a wide-ranging audit going back to 2018. Auditors reexamined their findings after Escobar showed up to UFLAC headquarters last month — news cameras in tow — with a thumb drive and stacks of photocopied receipts that he claimed would clear him. Read more: Top LAFD union officers suspended after audit flags $800,000 in credit card spending In a letter last week reviewed by The Times, the IAFF's auditors concluded that even with the new materials, Escobar failed to properly document more than $212,000 worth of credit card expenses. They said they were not provided full access to UFLAC's internal expense system for their first report and said Escobar engaged in a 'flurry of activity' to reconcile the transactions in recent months. In the months after auditors left UFLAC's offices in December 2024, Escobar directed his staff by email to look for missing receipts, according to the letter. "Escobar — with the assistance of UFLAC staff — worked feverishly to reconcile some of his past credit card expenditures," IAFF General President Edward Kelly and General Secretary Treasurer Frank Líma said in a note this week to the local union's members. Of the 1,974 Escobar credit card transactions auditors recently reviewed, totaling $312,985, only 889, or $100,824 worth, were fully documented with receipts and a business purpose, the auditors' letter said. The initial audit reviewed 1,957 of those transactions, which amounted to $311,498, and found that only 428, or $45,635, were properly documented. 'Our conclusions set forth in our May 1, 2025 audit report remain the same,' the auditors wrote in the letter. 'It appears that Escobar repeatedly failed to comply with his fiduciary duties and obligations, and proper controls were not in place for compliance with state and federal laws and regulations and UFLAC policies on expense reimbursements and expenditure of UFLAC funds due to lack of receipts and documentation of business purpose.' Neither Escobar nor his attorney immediately provided comment. Read more: Suspended LAFD union president disputes allegations of missing receipts: 'I've been unjustly accused' The initial audit had also found that two other UFLAC officials — former Secretary Adam Walker and former Treasurer Domingo Albarran Jr. — together made more than $530,000 in credit card transactions with no receipts or partial documentation. Auditors did not reexamine those findings in the new report. Under UFLAC policy, receipts are required for all credit card expenditures, along with an explanation of the expense, including the names of those present and the business reason. Vice Presidents Chuong Ho and Doug Coates also were suspended and accused of breaching their fiduciary duties in 'failing to enforce UFLAC policy.' After the audit, the IAFF appointed a conservator, John Bagala, to take over the union and 'restore responsible financial stewardship and guarantee the fulfillment of UFLAC's legitimate objectives." Bagala is a state representative for the IAFF and president of Marin Professional Firefighters, IAFF Local 1775, which represents firefighters in Marin County. In a statement Thursday, IAFF spokesperson Ryan Heffernan said the conservatorship is focused on implementing safeguards to prevent future financial mismanagement. "During this temporary conservatorship, the IAFF remains focused on meeting members' critical needs and protecting their hard-earned dues money," he said. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Three LAFD Union Leaders Suspended after Suspected Mishandling of $800,000 in Funds
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. Generate Key Takeaways The union representing Los Angeles City firefighters was placed in emergency conservatorship Monday after an audit uncovered what its umbrella organization called misuse of union funds by top leaders. According to a letter released by the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the organization had voted to suspend United Firefighters of Los Angeles City (UFLAC) President Freddy Escobar, along with former Secretary Adam Walker and former Treasurer Domingo Albarran Jr. The letter accused the men of violating their fiduciary duties and failing to account for hundreds of thousands of dollars in spending. 'The leadership of UFLAC has abdicated its fiduciary responsibilities and placed Local 112 in ill repute,' wrote IAFF General President Edward Kelly. 'The financial malpractice by the leadership of UFLAC has dealt serious harm to the membership.' According to the IAFF, a six-year audit of UFLAC's finances revealed widespread financial misconduct totaling more than $800,000. Escobar alone allegedly made 1,372 credit card transactions amounting to $230,465.67 without providing receipts or documentation. Even after receiving warnings in 2024, he continued to charge union cards, with totals racking up $71,671.44 across 339 undocumented transactions. Walker and Albarran Jr. collectively spent over $530,000 using union credit cards with little to no supporting documentation. 'The auditors could not ascertain the purpose of these transactions,' Kelly wrote. In response to the audit, IAFF has appointed a conservator to seize control of UFLAC's accounts. 'This conservatorship is necessary to restore responsible financial stewardship,' the letter said. Escobar disputed the findings in an Instagram post. View the original article to see embedded media. 'These false allegations are disgusting and politically motivated by those who want to attack the union and me personally,' he wrote. 'I have nothing to hide and I have always worked for the benefit of our membership for the greater good.' The audit's findings follow a series of reports on questionable overtime payments to Escobar and other UFLAC officials.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Former L.A. firefighter union treasurer under scrutiny over car purchase
A former labor leader for Los Angeles firefighters is under scrutiny for buying a union car at an alleged discount — and then reporting an even lower sale price to the state to avoid paying taxes, two people with knowledge of the transactions told The Times. Domingo Albarran Jr., a former Los Angeles Fire Department captain who served as treasurer of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles that he purchased the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu from the union for $500 in December 2022. The sources said that Albarran paid more — a total of $4,000 — for the car but slashed the sale price in documents he filed with the state. The incoming UFLAC treasurer noticed the discrepancy and demanded Albarran return the vehicle to the union, according to the sources, who asked not to be named in order to discuss the matter candidly. The new treasurer also discovered that Albarran had inflated the vehicle's mileage when he obtained an estimate from Kelley Blue Book, the sources said. A Kelley Blue Book spokesperson said a 2017 Malibu would likely have been worth more than $10,000 at the time of the sale. Albarran, who has since retired, acknowledged to The Times that he underreported the sale price to the DMV because he did not want to pay taxes, and said he misread the odometer and mistakenly plugged in the wrong mileage when he obtained the Kelley Blue Book estimate. But he said the car was in poor condition and needed major repairs, and was not worth more than double what he paid. 'I don't want to pay a lot of taxes on a vehicle that was potentially a lemon, but whatever, I own that 100%,' he said, adding that the price he paid was fair because the vehicle needed up to $2,000 in repairs. City payroll records show Albarran made more than $370,000 in 2023 in pay and benefits before he retired. That included $189,339 in overtime pay. The episode comes as another former officer of the labor organization faces an internal investigation over allegations that he engaged in financial improprieties involving the union's charity for injured firefighters and their families, including using $5,000 of the charity's money for his personal expenses. Adam Walker, a former UFLAC secretary who still works for the LAFD, told The Times that the allegations are false. The International Association of Fire Fighters has suspended Walker from his union leadership post and accused him of improperly depositing about $75,000 of the charity's funds into his personal accounts from December 2022 to January 2024, internal IAFF records reviewed by The Times show. Walker said in an interview that the deposits were reimbursements for his legitimate out-of-pocket expenses for two golf tournaments that raised money for a disabled former firefighter. He said the account from which deposits were made was set up for the tournaments and not for the charity, the UFLAC Fire Foundation. "Not one penny of the money was foundation money," he said. The UFLAC treasurer who uncovered the problems with Albarran's car purchase reported it to the International Association of Fire Fighters, the parent organization of UFLAC and other local firefighter unions across the country, said the two sources familiar with the situation. One of the sources said the IAFF is conducting a broad examination of UFLAC's finances, including the use of union credit cards by officers. UFLAC President Freddy Escobar declined to comment on the allegations against Albarran and did not answer a written question from The Times about the IAFF financial review. UFLAC can be a political force in L.A., with elected officials valuing its endorsements and financial contributions to campaigns. Escobar and other UFLAC leaders have criticized Mayor Karen Bass for firing LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley last month. Bass has said Crowley failed to adequately prepare for the Jan. 7 fire that destroyed swaths of Pacific Palisades and killed 12 people. On Tuesday, the City Council voted 13-2 to deny Crowley's appeal of her firing. Read more: L.A. fire officials could have put engines in the Palisades before the fire broke out. They didn't Albarran's case dates to 2022, when he offered to buy the Malibu sedan he had been driving for years in the course of performing his union duties. Officers typically are assigned a work car if they drive above a certain number of miles a year, because it's cheaper than reimbursing them for mileage, the two sources said. Before Albarran's purchase was final, he charged to a union credit card roughly $1,500 in mechanical work and improvements to the car, including installing two new tires and flushing its transmission, the sources said. In an interview, Albarran told The Times those expenses were for routine maintenance and safety upgrades. 'That needed to be done whether I was buying it or whether the union was going to keep it,' Albarran said, adding that the steel belt was exposed on the tires. 'Am I supposed to drive around in the vehicle with tires that are unsafe? And they were worn out while (the car) belonged to the union.' Albarran was also accused by the incoming treasurer of purchasing gas dozens of times for a personal vehicle with a union credit card, the sources said. After finding receipts where the amount of gas purchased exceeded the roughly 13 gallons in a Malibu tank, the incoming treasurer located surveillance footage of Albarran refueling his personal car at gas stations, the sources said. Albarran said in an interview that he filled up his personal vehicle using the union credit card 10 times 'at the most' over four years — and only when the Malibu was in the shop, though he said he did not keep any maintenance records. He said getting reimbursed by the union board for the number of miles he drove for work would have cost more. 'It was way cheaper to the union to just pay for fuel,' he said. The two sources said Albarran reported to the union board that the Malibu had 175,000 miles on it, which put the car's Kelley Blue Book trade-in value at $4,072 to $5,821, or an average of $4,947. Trade-in estimates are typically lower than estimates for private party sales. Escobar and six other union board members signed the Kelley Blue Book trade-in estimate with the higher mileage, dated December 2022, according to a copy of the document obtained by The Times. Albarran reported to the DMV that the car's actual mileage was 145,779. Kelley Blue Book said the fair purchase price of a 2017 Malibu with that mileage would have been within the range of $8,855 to $11,422, or an average of $10,139 when the sale occurred. According to the DMV, the union had purchased the 2017 car new, for more than $30,000. Albarran said he felt $4,000 was a fair price because of the condition of the car and that he quickly returned the Malibu to the union — which refunded his $4,000 — when he was asked to. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
07-03-2025
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
Former L.A. firefighter union treasurer under scrutiny over car purchase
A former labor leader for Los Angeles firefighters is under scrutiny for buying a union car at an alleged discount — and then reporting an even lower sale price to the state to avoid paying taxes, two people with knowledge of the transactions told The Times. Domingo Albarran Jr., a former Los Angeles Fire Department captain who served as treasurer of the United Firefighters of Los Angeles City, reported to the Department of Motor Vehicles that he purchased the 2017 Chevrolet Malibu from the union for $500 in December 2022. The sources said that Albarran paid more — a total of $4,000 — for the car but slashed the sale price in documents he filed with the state. The incoming UFLAC treasurer noticed the discrepancy and demanded Albarran return the vehicle to the union, according to the sources, who asked not to be named in order to discuss the matter candidly. The new treasurer also discovered that Albarran had inflated the vehicle's mileage when he obtained an estimate from Kelley Blue Book, the sources said. A Kelley Blue Book spokesperson said a 2017 Malibu would likely have been worth more than $10,000 at the time of the sale. Albarran, who has since retired, acknowledged to The Times that he underreported the sale price to the DMV because he did not want to pay taxes, and said he misread the odometer and mistakenly plugged in the wrong mileage when he obtained the Kelley Blue Book estimate. But he said the car was in poor condition and needed major repairs, and was not worth more than double what he paid. 'I don't want to pay a lot of taxes on a vehicle that was potentially a lemon, but whatever, I own that 100%,' he said, adding that the price he paid was fair because the vehicle needed up to $2,000 in repairs. City payroll records show Albarran made more than $370,000 in 2023 in pay and benefits before he retired. That included $189,339 in overtime pay. The episode comes as another former officer of the labor organization faces an internal investigation over allegations that he engaged in financial improprieties involving the union's charity for injured firefighters and their families, including using $5,000 of the charity's money for his personal expenses. Adam Walker, a former UFLAC secretary who still works for the LAFD, told The Times that the allegations are false. The International Association of Fire Fighters has suspended Walker from his union leadership post and accused him of improperly depositing about $75,000 of the charity's funds into his personal accounts from December 2022 to January 2024, internal IAFF records reviewed by The Times show. Walker said in an interview that the deposits were reimbursements for his legitimate out-of-pocket expenses for two golf tournaments that raised money for a disabled former firefighter. He said the account from which deposits were made was set up for the tournaments and not for the charity, the UFLAC Fire Foundation. 'Not one penny of the money was foundation money,' he said. The UFLAC treasurer who uncovered the problems with Albarran's car purchase reported it to the International Association of Fire Fighters, the parent organization of UFLAC and other local firefighter unions across the country, said the two sources familiar with the situation. One of the sources said the IAFF is conducting a broad examination of UFLAC's finances, including the use of union credit cards by officers. UFLAC President Freddy Escobar declined to comment on the allegations against Albarran and did not answer a written question from The Times about the IAFF financial review. UFLAC can be a political force in L.A., with elected officials valuing its endorsements and financial contributions to campaigns. Escobar and other UFLAC leaders have criticized Mayor Karen Bass for firing LAFD Chief Kristin Crowley last month. Bass has said Crowley failed to adequately prepare for the Jan. 7 fire that destroyed swaths of Pacific Palisades and killed 12 people. On Tuesday, the City Council voted 13-2 to deny Crowley's appeal of her firing. Albarran's case dates to 2022, when he offered to buy the Malibu sedan he had been driving for years in the course of performing his union duties. Officers typically are assigned a work car if they drive above a certain number of miles a year, because it's cheaper than reimbursing them for mileage, the two sources said. Before Albarran's purchase was final, he charged to a union credit card roughly $1,500 in mechanical work and improvements to the car, including installing two new tires and flushing its transmission, the sources said. In an interview, Albarran told The Times those expenses were for routine maintenance and safety upgrades. 'That needed to be done whether I was buying it or whether the union was going to keep it,' Albarran said, adding that the steel belt was exposed on the tires. 'Am I supposed to drive around in the vehicle with tires that are unsafe? And they were worn out while (the car) belonged to the union.' Albarran was also accused by the incoming treasurer of purchasing gas dozens of times for a personal vehicle with a union credit card, the sources said. After finding receipts where the amount of gas purchased exceeded the roughly 13 gallons in a Malibu tank, the incoming treasurer located surveillance footage of Albarran refueling his personal car at gas stations, the sources said. Albarran said in an interview that he filled up his personal vehicle using the union credit card 10 times 'at the most' over four years — and only when the Malibu was in the shop, though he said he did not keep any maintenance records. He said getting reimbursed by the union board for the number of miles he drove for work would have cost more. 'It was way cheaper to the union to just pay for fuel,' he said. The two sources said Albarran reported to the union board that the Malibu had 175,000 miles on it, which put the car's Kelley Blue Book trade-in value at $4,072 to $5,821, or an average of $4,947. Trade-in estimates are typically lower than estimates for private party sales. Escobar and six other union board members signed the Kelley Blue Book trade-in estimate with the higher mileage, dated December 2022, according to a copy of the document obtained by The Times. Albarran reported to the DMV that the car's actual mileage was 145,779. Kelley Blue Book said the fair purchase price of a 2017 Malibu with that mileage would have been within the range of $8,855 to $11,422, or an average of $10,139 when the sale occurred. According to the DMV, the union had purchased the 2017 car new, for more than $30,000. Albarran said he felt $4,000 was a fair price because of the condition of the car and that he quickly returned the Malibu to the union — which refunded his $4,000 — when he was asked to.
