WASHINGTON D.C.
The business manager and secretary-treasurer of Local 201 of the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers Union AFL-CIO was charged with taking kickbacks from public works employees at the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority, officials announced today.
A grand jury indicted Juan Carlos Recinos, 40, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, with seven counts of taking kickbacks from public works employees, officials said.
The Iron Workers Local 201 represents workers known as “rodmen” who set rebar into concrete forms at construction sites in Washington, D.C., and adjacent counties. Prior to being elected to the Local 201 post in 2014, Recinos served as an organizer for Local 201, according to authorities.
The indictment alleges that, on seven instances between April and September 2013, Recinos knowingly induced rodmen who had received back pay awards from their employment at Blue Plains to give him part of their award, ranging from $500 to $3,800 in cash, by falsely representing that the rodmen owed money to an unnamed attorney.
Recinos allegedly pocketed the money, in violation of the Copeland Anti-Kickback Act, which ensures that employees on public works projects receive all the wages to which they are entitled, the indictment states.
The defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating the case.