Federal prosecutors Wednesday charged a local United Auto Workers official with stealing union funds, money laundering and spending money on gambling, guns and cars.
Tim Edmunds, 53, of South Lyon is the 17th person charged in a years-long investigation of corruption within one of the nation’s largest and most influential unions that revealed UAW leaders and auto executives broke labor laws, stole union funds and received bribes and kickbacks. The investigation has led to prison sentences for two former presidents and court-ordered oversight of the union.
The case — the first criminal charges filed since a court-appointed corruption watchdog was installed to oversee reforms within the union — was filed more than one month after the UAW revealed that its auditors discovered more than $2 million in improper expenditures of union dues at Local 412 in Warren, whose members include Stellantis NV workers.