OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERALThe OIG's Labor Racketeering Program
The OIG at DOL has the responsibility to investigate labor racketeering and/or organized crime influence involving unions, employee benefit plans, and labor-management relations. The Inspector General Act of 1978 transferred responsibility for labor racketeering and organized crime–related investigations from the Department to the OIG. In doing so, Congress recognized the need to place the labor racketeering investigative function in an independent law enforcement office free from political interference and competing priorities. Since then, OIG special agents, working in association with the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, as well as various U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, have conducted criminal investigations to combat labor racketeering in all its forms.
Labor racketeering relates to the infiltration, exploitation, and/or control of a union, employee benefit plan, employer entity, or workforce. It is carried out through illegal, violent, or fraudulent means for profit or personal benefit.
Labor racketeering impacts American workers, employers, and the public through reduced wages and benefits, diminished competitive business opportunities, and increased costs for goods and services.
The OIG is committed to safeguarding American workers from being victimized through labor racketeering and/or organized crime schemes.
Labor racketeering and organized crime groups have been involved in benefit plan fraud, violence against union members, embezzlement, and extortion. Our investigations continue to identify complex financial and investment schemes used to defraud benefit fund assets, resulting in millions of dollars in losses to plan participants. The schemes include embezzlement or other sophisticated methods, such as fraudulent loans or excessive fees paid to corrupt union and benefit plan service providers. OIG investigations have demonstrated that abuses involving service providers are particularly egregious due to their potential for large dollar losses and because the schemes often affect several plans simultaneously. Thus, benefit plan service providers, such as accountants, attorneys, contract administrators, and medical providers, as well as corrupt union officials, plan representatives, and trustees, continue to be a strong focus of OIG investigations.
For more information on our work in this area, please read
our Semiannual
Reports to the Congress and OIG Investigations Newsletter.
