Document shredding alleged

The head of the UPW allegedly destroyed
records that listed fees paid to himself

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By Rick Daysog
rdaysog@starbulletin.com

An accountant with the United Public Workers union testified that state director Gary Rodrigues "shredded" records subpoenaed by federal investigators in their probe of the powerful labor leader.

Testifying before U.S. District Judge David Ezra yesterday, Jeanne Endo said Rodrigues told her in August 1999 that he had destroyed UPW documents that listed some $15,000 in consulting fees paid to Rodrigues and Allan Loughrin, the deceased stepfather of Rodrigues' former girlfriend.

"He said it was shredded, it's destroyed," Endo said.

Rodrigues and his daughter, Robin Haunani Rodrigues Sabatini, are on trial for a 102-count indictment alleging embezzlement, money laundering, mail fraud and health care fraud.

Federal prosecutors also have alleged that Rodrigues destroyed subpoenaed documents. They believe that the records, which provided details of the UPW's benefit plans with Hawaii Dental Service, showed that Rodrigues misappropriated union funds to pay consulting fees to himself and Loughrin.

The records, known as a form 550, are filed each year with the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Labor and provide financial details of the union's benefit plans.

Endo said she turned over the HDS records in January 1999 to Rodrigues at his request. Eight months later, Rodrigues informed Endo that he had destroyed the documents after she advised him that the union's HDS benefit plan did not need to file a form 550.

But Endo said she kept a copy of the HDS form and turned it over to federal investigators last month.

Doron Weinberg, Rodrigues' attorney, criticized the shredding allegations as a last-minute ploy. He has argued that Rodrigues always served the interests of union members and his family and did not violate the law.

Yesterday, Weinberg raised questions about Endo's testimony, saying the union accountant did not tell federal investigators about the alleged document shredding when she was interviewed by federal investigators on Feb. 10, 2000.

Weinberg also asked Endo why she did not tell investigators during the February 2000 meeting that she had kept a copy of the HDS document.

During Endo's testimony, federal prosecutors introduced UPW internal documents listing administrative fees paid to the union's insurance companies.

The records show that UPW paid $4,000 a month in administrative fees to Kaiser and $3,500 a month in administrative fees to HDS.

By contrast, the union paid $17,000 to $18,000 a month in administrative fees to Pacific Group Medical Association, the local health insurer that failed in 1997.

Federal prosecutors allege that HDS and PGMA and its sister company, Pacific Equity Growth and Management, paid consulting fees to two companies owned by Sabatini: Four Winds RSK on Kauai and Aulii Corp.