FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Maryland Businessman Sentenced for Bilking Union Benefits
A contractor who did business with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 24 in Baltimore, recently was sentenced to three years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $89,222 in restitution for falsifying documents required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Michael E. Sewell, the owner and operator of MESCO, plead guilty in August before the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland to knowingly underreporting the hours of work for his employees. MESCO was required to contribute funds based on the total number of hours worked to the benefit plans of employees represented by IBEW Local 24, an electrical union. An investigation by the Office of Labor-Management Standards, Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Office of Inspector General found Sewell intentionally underreported the number of hours the employees worked and did not make the benefit plan contributions.