{"id":683,"date":"2026-06-25T19:42:04","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T19:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=683"},"modified":"2026-06-25T19:42:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T19:42:04","slug":"labor-union-reported-political-embezzlement-allegations-to-fbi-local-police","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=683","title":{"rendered":"Labor Union Reported Political Embezzlement Allegations to FBI, Local Police"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Seafarers International Union has told the FBI and Prince George\u2019s County Police Department in Maryland that it suspects the union president\u2019s daughter embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from two union-linked political committees.<\/p>\n

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A NOTUS report<\/u><\/span> in May revealed the union suspected Chelsea Diab of embezzling nearly $300,000 from its federal political action committees. The union confirmed the report in a to the Federal Election Commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiab initially denied wrongdoing, but subsequently acknowledged her responsibility upon being confronted with contradictory evidence\u201d after the union initiated an internal review in October 2025, the Seafarers International Union wrote to the FEC.<\/p>\n

The union said an internal investigation determined that Diab had \u201cacted alone\u201d and that no one else was \u201cinvolved in or aware of the misconduct.\u201d The union has fired Diab, who also goes by the name Chelsea Heindel and is the daughter of Seafarers International Union President David Heindel.<\/p>\n

Neither Diab nor the Seafarers International Union have returned repeated requests for comment. The union previously released a statement<\/u><\/span> saying it was \u201cfully cooperating\u201d with unspecified law enforcement activities.<\/p>\n

The union\u2019s financial drama has since captured the attention of the House Education and Workforce Committee, whose top Republican to the Seafarers International Union demanding more information.<\/p>\n

Committee Chair Tim Walberg (R-Michigan) and Rep. Rick Allen (R-Georgia), who chairs the subcommittee on health, employment, labor and pensions, said NOTUS\u2019 reporting had raised \u201csignificant concerns regarding financial accountability, internal controls, and possible breaches of fiduciary duty involving these PACs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWorkers\u2019 political contributions should never function as a personal checking account for union insiders. The apparent absence of meaningful safeguards raises the troubling question of whether anyone was watching the money at all,\u201d Walberg and Allen wrote to the union in its letter, which Bloomberg Law first reported<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

The two lawmakers added that they were \u201cparticularly troubled that the suspected misconduct may have persisted for years before being detected.\u201d They also asked if the union, a tax-exempt organization largely funded by member dues, had notified federal authorities of the alleged embezzlement.<\/p>\n

The lawmakers gave the union until June 22 to respond to a list of questions. Walberg told NOTUS on Wednesday that his staff had not told him if they\u2019d received a response.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ll have to get back with you,\u201d Walberg told NOTUS.<\/p>\n

Audra McGeorge, a spokesperson for Walberg, confirmed Thursday that the union had responded, but she did not detail what the union said.<\/p>\n

Neither Allen nor a spokesperson responded to requests for comment from NOTUS.<\/p>\n

The financial crimes division of the police department in Prince George\u2019s County, where the union is based, did not respond to a request for comment from NOTUS. The FBI declined to comment, and the FEC does not comment on investigations or enforcement matters.<\/p>\n

As NOTUS previously reported, FEC records indicate Diab\u2019s financial saga began at least a year and a half ago, when she gave $3,000 to the union\u2019s PAC in January 2025 for \u201c.\u201d The payment was made months before the union says it launched its review of Diab\u2019s actions as its PAC treasurer.<\/p>\n

The union also told the FEC that its insurance carrier had reimbursed the union for the full amount of the money allegedly embezzled, minus a $2,500 deductible. The union reported receiving $292,888.69 from Chubb and Son Federal Insurance Company on March 9 for \u201cinsurance recovery\u201d \u201cembezzlements by former Treasurer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The union did not disclose in its latest letter to the FEC what internal controls were in place at the time of the alleged embezzlement, but it said it had made a number of changes including requiring two signatures for all PAC disbursements, and implementing a formal accounting system and a two-person review process for all FEC filings.<\/p>\n

The union also said it had \u201cretained outside legal counsel, engaged a forensic auditor, and hired a professional reporting compliance firm\u201d to help prepare and file amended reports to the FEC to account for the misappropriated funds.<\/p>\n

In addition to asking if law enforcement had been notified of the alleged misconduct, Walberg and Allen asked if union members or donors had been notified. The Seafarers International Union did not address this in its letter to the FEC, but officials wrote in a statement<\/u><\/span> released the day NOTUS published the initial story that they \u201creported the situation to the rank-and-file membership during monthly meetings throughout the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we are extremely disappointed in the conduct of the former employee, we believe that the behavior of a lone staff member does not change our organization\u2019s decades-long history of outstanding administration,\u201d the union wrote last month.<\/p>\n

Of late, several political committees have experienced high-dollar cases of embezzlement or alleged theft by treasurers or other staffers, NOTUS reported this month<\/u><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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A House committee also sent a letter to the Seafarers International Union this month demanding answers to questions prompted by NOTUS reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-money"],"yoast_head":"\nLabor Union Reported Political Embezzlement Allegations to FBI, Local Police - Modern Home Journals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=683\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Labor Union Reported Political Embezzlement Allegations to FBI, Local Police - Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A House committee also sent a letter to the Seafarers International Union this month demanding answers to questions prompted by NOTUS reporting.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=683\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Modern Home Journals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-25T19:42:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=683#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=683\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"headline\":\"Labor Union Reported Political Embezzlement Allegations to FBI, Local Police\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T19:42:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=683\"},\"wordCount\":827,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=683#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/41fb786292cfb8a93b3c6ad3c0e43022-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Money\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=683#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=683\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=683\",\"name\":\"Labor Union Reported Political Embezzlement Allegations to FBI, Local Police - Modern Home Journals\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=683#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=683#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/41fb786292cfb8a93b3c6ad3c0e43022-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T19:42:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/533de239efc09a2ab59959cc1bff86d0\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=683#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=683\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/?p=683#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/41fb786292cfb8a93b3c6ad3c0e43022-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/modernhomejournals.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/41fb786292cfb8a93b3c6ad3c0e43022-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"In this Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, photo container ships, Maersk Esmeraldas front, left, and the MSC Aries, left rear, are moored at Maersk APM Terminals Pacific, Pier 400, left, at the Port of Los Angeles. 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