U.S. CUSTOMS INSPECTOR PLEADS GUILTY TO FILING FALSE REPORT WITH
THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR TO CONCEAL THEFT OF UNION FUNDS

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A U.S. Customs Inspector who also served as the president of a U.S. Customs employee union pleaded guilty today to filing a false report with the Department of Labor to conceal the theft of union funds, the Justice Department announced.

Gregory B. Floto, president of National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 116, pleaded guilty in the United States District Court in Tucson, to filing a false union financial report with the U.S. Department of Labor in order to cover up his theft of union funds. The defendant, originally indicted in January 2001, admitted to stealing thousands of dollars in union funds for his personal benefit between 1994 and 1997.

He concealed the theft by falsifying the Chapter 116 union check register and filing false audit documents with the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU). Floto also filed false financial reports with the Department of Labor in which he grossly understated the amount of union funds received and claimed an audit had been conducted of the Chapter 116 records.

Floto, who has been president of NTEU Chapter 116 since 1989, admitted to writing thousands of dollars in Chapter 116 union checks to pay balances due on his credit cards bills for personal charges unrelated to union business, including charges for clothing, jewelry and a family vacation. Floto also admitted writing thousands of dollars in union checks to pay for painting his house, making home improvements and double billing the union and the U.S. Customs Service for identical official travel expenses.

As part of the plea agreement, Floto will resign his position with the U.S. Customs Service, as well as any position as an officer of NTEU. Chapter 116 of the union is comprised of over 200 members throughout the state of Arizona, all of whom are federal employees. The union treasury is comprised almost exclusively of funds deducted from the members' federal salaries.

Floto faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for May 24, 2002 before U.S. District Judge Frank Zapata.

The case was prosecuted by the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, and was investigated by the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Labor Management Standards and the U.S. Customs Service Office of Internal Affairs.

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