{"id":2245631,"date":"2024-05-16T02:40:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-16T06:40:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-head-of-philadelphia-union-charged-with-stealing-150000-to-support-political-candidates\/"},"modified":"2024-05-16T02:43:55","modified_gmt":"2024-05-16T06:43:55","slug":"former-head-of-philadelphia-union-charged-with-stealing-150000-to-support-political-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-head-of-philadelphia-union-charged-with-stealing-150000-to-support-political-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Philadelphia union leader accused of embezzling $150,000 for political backing"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fformer-head-of-philadelphia-union-charged-with-stealing-150000-to-support-political-candidates%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2245631&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The former leader of a Philadelphia labor union, Christen \u200bWoods,\u2063 is accused of \u200bembezzling over\u2062 $150,000 to support specific candidates \u200din the city&#8217;s 2019 Democratic primary election. Woods allegedly disguised the\u2063 funds as renovation payments for the union&#8217;s headquarters. The scheme involved awarding inflated renovation bids to an associate&#8217;s company,\u2063 funneling money to a \u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/south-carolina-sweepstakes-nikki-haley-rises-tim-scott-falters\/\" title=\"Nikki Haley soars, Tim Scott stumbles in South Carolina sweepstakes.\">political\u2064 consulting firm<\/a>,\u200d and supporting preferred candidates.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A former leader of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/philadelphia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Philadelphia<\/a> labor union allegedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from his members to support specific candidates in the city\u2019s 2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Democratic<\/a> primary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/elections\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>election<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>State and federal authorities accused Christen Woods, a former district head of the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees, of stealing more than $150,000 to spend on political campaigns. He <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/christian-school-denied-university-status-after-governing-board-allegedly-falsified-schools-application\/\" title=\"Christian School Denied University Status After Governing Board Allegedly Falsified School\u2019s Application\">allegedly misrepresented<\/a> the missing funds as payments for renovation costs of his union\u2019s headquarters in Philadelphia, the <em>Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.inquirer.com\/news\/pennsylvania\/chris-woods-district-1199c-charges-nuhhce-tracy-hardy-20240514.html?cid=Philly.com+Twitter&#038;utm_campaign=Philly.com+Twitter+Account&#038;utm_medium=social&#038;utm_source=t.co\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWoods, the head of District 1199C\u2026submitted false bids to the union to ensure Hardy\u2019s newly created and unlicensed construction company was awarded a heavily-inflated bid to renovate a portion of the union hall,\u201d read <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1U8gu5GzESbiTxIUugzbedeGsl00oWlwr\/view\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">official court documents<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe money was then funneled from the construction company to Hardy\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/warner-rubio-question-facebooks-zuckerberg-over-chinas-access-to-user-data\/\" title=\"Warner, Rubio Question Facebook\u2019s Zuckerberg Over China\u2019s Access to User Data\">political consulting company<\/a>, Monroe Press, to fund political work for Wood\u2019s chosen candidates for the 2019 Democratic primary election,\u201d read the official police criminal complaint. \u201cWoods also used union funds to pay fraudulent invoices from Hardy\u2019s consulting company in order to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kylie-jenner-criticized-on-twitter-after-asking-for-donations-for-injured-makeup-artist-eat-the-rich\/\" title=\"Kylie Jenner Criticized On Twitter After Asking For Donations For Injured Makeup Artist: \u2018Eat The Rich\u2019\">provide financial support<\/a> for candidates endorsed by Woods. Woods and Hardy utilized financial transactions in order to conceal their theft from the union and to circumvent Pennsylvania campaign finance law and U.S. Department of Labor union reporting requirements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The name \u201cHardy\u201d refers to Tracy Hardy, the former chief of staff to Sen. Shariff Street, son of former Philadelphia Mayor John Street and the chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, the <em>Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em> <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.inquirer.com\/news\/pennsylvania\/chris-woods-district-1199c-charges-nuhhce-tracy-hardy-20240514.html?cid=Philly.com+Twitter&#038;utm_campaign=Philly.com+Twitter+Account&#038;utm_medium=social&#038;utm_source=t.co\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>. If convicted, both could face up to 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe law is very clear about how unions can support candidates and their campaigns,\u201d <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.attorneygeneral.gov\/taking-action\/two-philadelphia-men-charged-with-defrauding-healthcare-workers-union-with-sham-bids-and-inflating-renovation-costs-to-unlawfully-fund-political-work\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said Attorney General Michelle Henry<\/a>. \u201cThese two men are accused of intentionally defrauding a workers\u2019 union with an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alleged-fact-checkers-ignore-new-facts-on-hunter-biden-emails\/\" title=\"Alleged \u201cFact Checkers\u201d Ignore \u201cNew\u201d Facts on Hunter Biden Emails\">elaborate scheme<\/a> to steal and divert money for political purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wood denied any wrongdoing through statements issued by his attorneys. His counsel called the charges a \u201climited, one-sided view.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Woods did not defraud or conspire to defraud the members of District 1199C for whom he fought throughout his career,\u201d Woods\u2019 lawyers said. \u201cIn reality, it was the failure to plan that bring Mr. Woods into this case. That\u2019s not criminal, and it\u2019s unfortunate we are here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The charges brought against Woods (and Hardy) resulted from a five-year investigation by the FBI and Pennsylvania state prosecutors, according to reports.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Philadelphia union leader Christen Woods is alleged to have misappropriated over $150,000 from union funds to back favored candidates in the city&#8217;s 2019 Democratic primary. State and federal authorities charged Woods, a former district head of the National Union of Hospital and Healthcare Employees, with the embezzlement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2677,"featured_media":2245632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/philly-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2245631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/philly-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2245631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2245631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2245632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2245631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2245631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2245631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}