THE BLACK HAND FORUM

TommyNoto wrote: ↑Sat Jan 02, 2021 6:49 amI’m not sure if this has been posted but it looks like Cahill was meeting with Bo Fillippi. Is he a construction guy ?

I’ve heard from several union friends that it’s the Irish that run the unions ( up front ) who allegedly do biz with the Italian families. This bust might be an example of that, Non union and shorting benefits appear still appear core racket for some crews.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nydail ... utType=amp

Bklyn21 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 02, 2020 5:48 pm

Wiseguy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 02, 2020 12:29 pm Plumbers Local 638 was actually Gambino-connected back in the 1980's. But at first glance there doesn't appear to be any criminal organization (including the non-existent Westies) behind this. Simply corrupt union officials running their own scams. But yes, James Cahill is the brother of Michael Cahill.

Press release out of the Southern District is below and the actual indictment is at the link.




Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 1, 2020

11 Union Officials Charged With Racketeering, Fraud, And Bribery Offenses

Defendants Allegedly Agreed to Accept Dozens of Bribes to Corruptly Influence the Construction Industry At the Expense of Labor Unions and Their Members

Ilan Graff, Attorney for the United States, Acting Under Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515, and Timothy D. Sini, Suffolk County District Attorney, announced today the return of an indictment charging JAMES CAHILL, CHRISTOPHER KRAFT, PATRICK HILL, MATTHEW NORTON, WILLIAM BRIAN WANGERMAN, KEVIN MCCARRON, JEREMY SHEERAN, a/k/a “Max,” ANDREW MCKEON, and ROBERT EGAN with racketeering, fraud, and bribery offenses, in connection with their acceptance of payments in their roles as current and former union officials to corruptly influence labor-management relations in the construction industry. SCOTT ROCHE and ARTHUR GIPSON are charged with fraud and bribery offenses. The defendants are current and former union officials with Local 638 of the Enterprise Association of Steamfitters (“Local 638”) and Local Union 200 of the United Association of Journeyman and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada (“Local 200”). CAHILL is the president of the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council (the “NYS Trades Council”), which represents over 200,000 unionized construction workers, and a member of the executive council for the New York State American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (the “NYS AFL-CIO”). As alleged, since in or around October 2018, the defendants agreed to accept dozens of bribes, totaling over $100,000, in exchange for which they used their authority to corruptly influence the construction industry at the expense of labor unions and their members.

All of the defendants were arrested yesterday afternoon or earlier today and will be presented this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Robert W. Lehrburger. The case is assigned to Chief United States District Judge Colleen McMahon.

Attorney for the United States Ilan Graff said: “As alleged, the defendants exploited their labor organization positions to line their own pockets. They did so at the expense of the unions and their members by accepting bribes to favor non-union employers and corruptly influence the construction trade. Today’s indictment reflects our commitment to rooting out corruption and bringing to justice those who abuse positions of power out of personal greed. We thank the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for their partnership in this case.”

Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini said: “As alleged in today’s indictment, these union officials – who purported to be the ones looking out for workers and their rights – were in fact engaged in an enterprise of corruption at the expense of the hardworking men and women they claimed to represent. This was a complete betrayal of these unions and their membership. Our two-year wiretap investigation uncovered a shocking level of greed and corruption, and the investigation is very much ongoing. I want to thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for partnering with my office on this investigation and for working with us to hold these alleged bad actors accountable in federal court.”

According to the allegations in the Indictment[[1]]:

JAMES CAHILL, CHRISTOPHER KRAFT, PATRICK HILL, MATTHEW NORTON, WILLIAM BRIAN WANGERMAN, KEVIN MCCARRON, JEREMY SHEERAN, a/k/a “Max,” ANDREW MCKEON, and ROBERT EGAN, are members of an enterprise (the “Enterprise”) comprising current and former officials of Local 638, a union with jurisdiction over pipe fitting in New York City and Long Island. The Enterprise was a criminal organization whose members agreed to engage in, among other activities, honest services fraud, receipts of bribes as labor union officials, and unlawful receipt of payments to labor organizations. Members of the Enterprise conspired to accept cash bribes, as well as bribes in the form of “loans” that were never repaid, free meals and drinks, free labor on personal property, and purchases of home appliances. Since in or around October 2018, the defendants accepted dozens of bribes, totaling over $100,000.

JAMES CAHILL was the leader of the Enterprise. In addition to being president of the NYS Trades Council and a member of the NYS AFL-CIO’s executive council, CAHILL is also a former business agent of Local 638, and a former international representative of the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada. As the Enterprise’s leader, CAHILL influenced Local 638’s elections and installed loyal associates into official positions within Local 638. CAHILL initiated several Local 638 officials into the Enterprise so they could accept bribes and expand their influence. For example, after CAHILL brought defendant PATRICK HILL into the Enterprise as a union official who would – and did – accept bribes, CAHILL told a non-union employer from whom CAHILL and HILL had received bribes (“Employer-1”): “Here’s the thing. I give you Paddy [HILL]. But if Paddy fucks up and does stupid things, you have to tell me . . . I got my guys, I got the guys who come to me, and you know that, and everyone knows who comes to me.” CAHILL told HILL, following HILL’s receipt of a bribe from Employer-1, “Welcome to the real world.” NORTON similarly stated in a meeting at which NORTON, CAHILL, and HILL received bribes: “The real world is the real world and there’s . . . always wiggle room as long as everyone . . . understands each other, and everyone’s taken care of.”

CAHILL and the other members of the Enterprise used their positions of power with respect to Local 638 to receive bribes in exchange for taking actions favorable to non-union employers, and exercising corrupt influence within the construction trade, all to the detriment of Local 638 and the union members’ interests. For instance, in one meeting with Employer-1, CAHILL urged Employer-1, in sum and substance, not to sign with a union, but instead to “tell everyone to go fuck themselves” because “if you become union, you’ll have 12 fucking guys on your back.”

All 11 defendants are also charged with participating in conspiracies to commit honest services fraud and violate the Taft-Hartley Act, based on, among other things, their agreement to accept bribes in exchange for acquiescing in the bidding and performing of construction work with non-union labor for plumbing and pipe fitting projects that would otherwise have potentially been awarded to companies whose employees were represented by Local 638 or Local 200.

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/11 ... y-offenses

Thanks Wiseguy , Local 638 is still Gambino controlled , I'm surprised they haven't indicted anyone or made a case in the recent past against any Gambino's regarding 638 . Who knows ? The case is supposedly ongoing, Maybe we'll see a case in the near future ? Plumbing is dominated and controlled by Lcn heavily , The amount of wiseguys involved is staggering , It's like they moved away and we're kicked out of other construction locals over the years and moved heavily into plumbing from politicians and contractors the industry is corrupt as hell

queensnyer wrote: ↑Sat Oct 17, 2020 11:01 pm

CabriniGreen wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 6:59 am

queensnyer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 04, 2020 1:38 pm and let me clear something up. the mob is in no way a minor player in nyc construction. they are still in control in a lot of areas. they have their hooks in developers/ gc companies and shops union and non. they just dont have control of the unions. the union rackets involved access to the funds where the $$ is kept. it is now mostly big banks like john hancock etc. money managers in control of the millions in fund moneys. they still influence when they hook a company and can slow a job etc non union, but on these major projects the conteacts are heavily weighed towards the developers and construction management firms. you dont keep the schedule you dont get paid. you dont have the man power on site you dont get paid. all the tools the mob used to control a site have been ultimately taken away in contracts by big corporate banks and gc's/

I gotta ask, what did you think of the Campos indictment? To me, their operation didnt seem smart.
Like, can they EVER get another construction contract like that? If not, then they fucked a multimillion legit racket for a house?

I just cant understand the angle with that whole thing....

sorry ive been extremely busy... yes the campos indictment im not 100% on the details.. but i do know it was a amaller scale non union operation. the guys in the 80s wouldnt have bothered.

Tonyd621 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2020 6:47 am

queensnyer wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 10:43 pm

Cheech wrote: ↑Sun Oct 04, 2020 8:56 am @queensnyer thanks for the insight.

your welcome

I'm a union myself, based in CT, though. I agree with what your saying, spot on. I would just add the prevailing wage law has something to do with it too imo.

Wiseguy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2020 11:58 am

queensnyer wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 10:42 pmyour hilarious i dont work in the unions ..im a labor leader an elected official in a bulding trades union/ the fact that you dont know the difference between a building trades local and a rogue is just fact 1 that points to your ignorance of the subject. what position do you hold? what meetings have you been apart of? what politicians and labor leaders. developers general contractors do you meet with on a daily basis?

I know the difference between a building trades local and a rogue. My point was you kept changing what you were talking about. I've never been a part of any union. That's why I defer to the sources I usually do on this subject - indictments, insights from OC experts, etc.

You seem to think because you're a labor leader, if we are to take you at your word, that what you say shouldn't be questioned or disagreed with; even if there's conflicting evidence. Sorry, but that's not going to fly here.

Garbageman wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 6:50 am

queensnyer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 04, 2020 1:38 pm and let me clear something up. the mob is in no way a minor player in nyc construction. they are still in control in a lot of areas. they have their hooks in developers/ gc companies and shops union and non. they just dont have control of the unions. the union rackets involved access to the funds where the $$ is kept. it is now mostly big banks like john hancock etc. money managers in control of the millions in fund moneys. they still influence when they hook a company and can slow a job etc non union, but on these major projects the conteacts are heavily weighed towards the developers and construction management firms. you dont keep the schedule you dont get paid. you dont have the man power on site you dont get paid. all the tools the mob used to control a site have been ultimately taken away in contracts by big corporate banks and gc's/

Queensnyer
First may I say, im sorry to hear your friends were indicted. It's a terrible feeling to learn that the Southern Distrust of New York Crime Family Pretending to be The Good Guys has your name on a thick document such as a federal indictment. Believe me, I know. I'm sure it all started with a misunderstanding and someone who didn't get their kickback, I mean cut.....I mean "fees" sorry! Fees! Anyway....

I've been around the board a few years. Known wise guy since before I came to this board, I can tell you one thing for sure about him. If you're going to argue the mob is gone from any sort of their usual rackets, he can and will find a recent indictment where the mob was involved with the exact racket you're talking about. It's always been fun for me to read threads like this... where someone brings up the type of discussion going on here and the links of proof start flying lol. Don't take it the wrong way. The people on this board are mob enthusiasts of the highest order. They are not mob fan boys or junior FBI wannabes. They are just straight up mob hobbyists. I know. I found it bizarre myself when I first came here but I will tell you something....I came here for a reason. I found out more about my own case from here than I did from my own attorneys or from the street. These people know their shit....it's mostly from a network of people who follow organized crime.

I think you said it best yourself, however, when you stated above that for the most part, the mob has been replaced by banks and GCs who fuck union guys out of their money if they don't follow the contract to the letter. I bet they even help it along a little by making it impossible for the contractor to follow the contract to the letter.
I wouldn't be surprised if some familiar faces were behind the scenes involved with some of the money managers or GCs you speak of...but what do I know?

All the mob did was change their banner. Instead of Gambino its Herkimerk Funding and Credit or Metropolitan Building Corp.. (just making these names up) or some other seemingly legit company. The question i have for you is....which did you prefer? The new scumbags? Or the old ones? I guess the answer depends on who is asked that question. For instance... I know which ones the resident snowflakes and their bought and paid for politicians of NYC prefer, and I know which ones I preferred. And the two don't match.
I think in most cases, if I had to choose, I'd pick the lesser of the 2 evils and go with the mob....but the mob doesn't win by much. They're scumbag predators just like the politicians, banks, finance companies and lawyers.
Then again, I do enjoy laughing as I read the local papers these days and see all these attorneys, politicians and their money management companies or real estate friends getting indicted and flipping on one another. Brings a smile to my face every time...whereas seeing some familiar names making the headlines in the past...maybe not so much. Let's face it, shakedown artists suck, no matter what their last names or affiliations are.

I'll be moving out of the NYC area and into the woods in the coming months, surrounded by coyotes, bear, deer, grits.... and bearded men with shotguns. I look just like them until I open up my mouth and that tell-tale accent comes flying out. I won't miss it one bit. Especially when my property taxes are due!

CabriniGreen wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 6:59 am

queensnyer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 04, 2020 1:38 pm and let me clear something up. the mob is in no way a minor player in nyc construction. they are still in control in a lot of areas. they have their hooks in developers/ gc companies and shops union and non. they just dont have control of the unions. the union rackets involved access to the funds where the $$ is kept. it is now mostly big banks like john hancock etc. money managers in control of the millions in fund moneys. they still influence when they hook a company and can slow a job etc non union, but on these major projects the conteacts are heavily weighed towards the developers and construction management firms. you dont keep the schedule you dont get paid. you dont have the man power on site you dont get paid. all the tools the mob used to control a site have been ultimately taken away in contracts by big corporate banks and gc's/

I gotta ask, what did you think of the Campos indictment? To me, their operation didnt seem smart.
Like, can they EVER get another construction contract like that? If not, then they fucked a multimillion legit racket for a house?

I just cant understand the angle with that whole thing....

Garbageman wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 6:50 amI'll be moving out of the NYC area and into the woods in the coming months, surrounded by coyotes, bear, deer, grits.... and bearded men with shotguns. I look just like them until I open up my mouth and that tell-tale accent comes flying out. I won't miss it one bit. Especially when my property taxes are due!

CabriniGreen wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 6:59 am
I gotta ask, what did you think of the Campos indictment? To me, their operation didnt seem smart.
Like, can they EVER get another construction contract like that? If not, then they fucked a multimillion legit racket for a house?

I just cant understand the angle with that whole thing....

queensnyer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 04, 2020 1:38 pm and let me clear something up. the mob is in no way a minor player in nyc construction. they are still in control in a lot of areas. they have their hooks in developers/ gc companies and shops union and non. they just dont have control of the unions. the union rackets involved access to the funds where the $$ is kept. it is now mostly big banks like john hancock etc. money managers in control of the millions in fund moneys. they still influence when they hook a company and can slow a job etc non union, but on these major projects the conteacts are heavily weighed towards the developers and construction management firms. you dont keep the schedule you dont get paid. you dont have the man power on site you dont get paid. all the tools the mob used to control a site have been ultimately taken away in contracts by big corporate banks and gc's/

queensnyer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 04, 2020 1:38 pm and let me clear something up. the mob is in no way a minor player in nyc construction. they are still in control in a lot of areas. they have their hooks in developers/ gc companies and shops union and non. they just dont have control of the unions. the union rackets involved access to the funds where the $$ is kept. it is now mostly big banks like john hancock etc. money managers in control of the millions in fund moneys. they still influence when they hook a company and can slow a job etc non union, but on these major projects the conteacts are heavily weighed towards the developers and construction management firms. you dont keep the schedule you dont get paid. you dont have the man power on site you dont get paid. all the tools the mob used to control a site have been ultimately taken away in contracts by big corporate banks and gc's/

queensnyer wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 10:42 pmyour hilarious i dont work in the unions ..im a labor leader an elected official in a bulding trades union/ the fact that you dont know the difference between a building trades local and a rogue is just fact 1 that points to your ignorance of the subject. what position do you hold? what meetings have you been apart of? what politicians and labor leaders. developers general contractors do you meet with on a daily basis?

queensnyer wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 10:43 pm

Cheech wrote: ↑Sun Oct 04, 2020 8:56 am @queensnyer thanks for the insight.

your welcome

ng wrote: ↑Sun Oct 04, 2020 9:01 pm Thanks for sharing queensnyer, appreciate your insight

Cheech wrote: ↑Sun Oct 04, 2020 8:56 am @queensnyer thanks for the insight.

Wiseguy wrote: ↑Sun Oct 04, 2020 2:03 pm

queensnyer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 04, 2020 7:05 amfirst of all half the locals you mention have nothing to do with construction trades. liuna 325 is a small local in nj. they do not come into nyc. the carpenters local is not considered rogue in nyc yet. even though they left the bt council. local 713 is a rogue union. . rogue unions are st up to be corrupt. some by oc. either way they have no pull in nyc and are not recognized as unions by major gc and developers. a bt council union can remove them fom a job with a grievance. the fact
the fact that you really dont know the difference between some of these things shows you dont know enough to debate. dont mean that in a disrespectful way, just that im on the inside of the industry. i know more than the media tells you and whether they are actually reporting facts. the mob is gone from real trades unions in nyc,
they used to run everything from bids to union events. control a whole site from top down. they now might sneak in hear and there mostly through developers and the rogue unions they start, its the mob trying to get back in. they were all but eliminated from the trade unions after 9/11. so they started unions on their own, 638 is a steamfitters union in nyc. the steamfitters union. so someone stared 355 doing steamfitter work at 1/2 price ro try to take over the market the union holds and get back on these jobs. like 295 and 363 and all the other rogue unions popping up.
it works when corrupt guys at 638 like we have here take bribes to steer work to 355 instead of their own local. but fails 95% of the time.
if you think 1 mob case every ten years means the mob is still in the unions, you dont understand the business.
themob is still heavy in construction, non union. they can control a job from top to bottom like they did with union in 80's with no one really looking over their shoulder. if its private money the unions cant make a grievance, just try to sell the services of our shops. i can name you 20 companies foing work right now all mobbed up. all non union.
some even say the fact that mob was pushed out of the unions has hurt us and you can make a case.

I gotta say, you remind me of an old poster on the Real Deal who went by the name of "blindman." He also felt his views on the mob and the labor unions were unquestionable because he had worked in the unions.

I also can't help but notice how you keep moving the goal posts. First it was the mob is out of the unions. Then it was the mob was out of the building trades unions. Then it was the mob was out of the legit (non-rogue) building trades unions. Then it was the mob is out of the legit building trades (non-rogue) unions but we're not counting New Jersey. Then it was a case of having to control everything from the top down, like the old days, or it doesn't count.

I don't have a very high opinion of the media so you claiming to "know more" doesn't mean all that much. But you knowing more than law enforcement or OC experts is another story. An excerpt from the 2014 WSJ article on the mob and unions:

Still, Mr. Jacobs and other experts said that while the Mafia's hold on unions today has weakened, the Mafia's influence isn't totally lost.

Mr. Jacobs said there are still cases in which government-installed monitors are "trying to rehabilitate formerly mobbed-up unions" as well as new labor-racketeering prosecutions being brought against organized-crime members.

After the prosecutions "some unions were definitely cleaned up, other unions weren't completely clean and other unions…were cleaned up but have been infiltrated again," said Richard Frankel, special agent in charge of the Criminal Division for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's New York office.

Nobody is denying the mob's presence in the labor unions isn't comparable to the old days. I don't think there's a single industry the mob controls like it once did. Even construction. It's been pushed out of several of them and weakened in the rest. But I don't think it's presence in the unions, legit or otherwise, is gone. And while New York is still the biggest union town around, as has been said, even there they don't have the clout they once did.

And the mob changing tactics in order to find other ways to exploit things isn't new. 20 years ago, Selwyn Raab wrote an article entitled
"Investigators Detail a New Mob Strategy on Building Trades" that talked about how, as a result of different labor cases, the mob had moved more from bid-rigging on large projects ($50+ million) to sweetheart deals on smaller ones (below $10 million).