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Rodrigues fraud trial
goes to jury

Deliberations continue today over
charges of fraud at UPW


By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

A jury was to resume deliberations today in the fraud trial of United Public Workers leader Gary Rodrigues in U.S. District Court.

Eight women and five men began deliberating after lunch yesterday on a total of 101 fraud and other counts against Rodrigues and his daughter Robin Haunani Rodrigues Sabatini.

Rodrigues and Sabatini are charged with 50 counts of mail fraud, one count of defrauding a health care benefit program, two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 42 counts of money laundering.

Rodrigues is also charged with five counts of embezzlement and one count of accepting kickbacks in connection with an employee welfare benefit plan.

The government contends Rodrigues did not act in the best interests of UPW members by negotiating dental and medical contracts with consulting fees that he funneled to his daughter's two companies, Four Winds RSK Inc. and Aulii Inc.

The mail fraud charges stem from 50 separate checks mailed to Four Winds and Aulii Inc. allegedly for consulting work not done.

The embezzlement charges accuse Rodrigues of using UPW assets to pay his daughter's bogus consulting fees, which allegedly went toward the personal benefit of Sabatini, her sister Shelly Rodrigues, grandmother Gertrude Rodrigues and Rodrigues himself.

Rodrigues allegedly used consulting fees to pay off a personal loan to the stepfather of his longtime former girlfriend and secretary.

The money-laundering counts stem from the deposit of the consulting checks into the accounts of Sabatini's companies. Rodrigues and his daughter allegedly knew that the checks represented proceeds of unlawful activity and had the checks deposited in the business accounts to conceal their source, the government contends.

The kickback charge alleges Rodrigues received an average of $25,000 cash per year over five years from an agent of Transamerica, which provided life insurance to UPW members.



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