Labor Union to Congress: Our Embezzlement Problems Got Bigger

The Seafarers International Union told a House committee that the daughter of the union president allegedly embezzled from four union-linked political committees, double the number initially reported by NOTUS, according to a committee spokesperson.

The acknowledgement comes after NOTUS reported that the union suspected Chelsea Diab — daughter of the union’s president — of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from two federal political committees the union controlled.

Citing NOTUS’ report, two top Republicans on the House Education and Workforce Committee sent a letter to the union this month demanding answers, including a full accounting of the scope of the alleged embezzlement.

The Seafarers International Union told the committee that Diab allegedly embezzled not only from two federal committees previously reported by NOTUS but a third federal committee and an additional state-level committee.

In all, the union told lawmakers that Diab has allegedly embezzled a total of $378,000 from the four committees, a House committee spokesperson told NOTUS.

The Seafarers International Union also told the House committee that Diab had acted alone and was no longer employed by the union, and that it had put in place new procedures to prevent misappropriation in the future.

“We feel all our questions were answered at this time and we don’t anticipate any further action. We’re glad to see the union is taking action to better protect workers’ funds, but it’s disappointing that these protections weren’t implemented until after a major incident exposed the need for them,” the House committee spokesperson told NOTUS.

Neither the Seafarers International Union nor its president, Diab’s father David Heindel, responded to requests for comment. Diab also did not respond to a request for comment.

NOTUS previously reported that the Seafarers International Union had referred the embezzlement allegations to the Federal Election Commission, Federal Bureau of Investigation and police in Prince George’s County, Maryland, where the union is headquartered.

Heindel, the union president, gave two of the political committees tens of thousands of dollars to cover the money his daughter allegedly embezzled, according to FEC records, which show he gave the previously unreported federal political committee nearly $43,000 in January.

The union also said Diab had embezzled around $8,900 from a Maryland state PAC named UIWPAD, according to the House committee’s spokesperson, who also said the full name of the committee had not been provided.

NOTUS was unable to confirm how the committee got that money back — there is no “UIWPAD” registered with the Maryland State Board of Elections, a NOTUS search found.