PHILADELPHIA – The president of the local aerospace union here was convicted this week of a $2.5 million loan scheme that offered unqualified people membership at Boeing Helicopters CU, where he doubled as an executive, in exchange for kickbacks.
Daniel Forte, the president of United Aerospace Workers Local 1069, who was also executive vice president and director of marketing at the $110 million credit union, pled guilty to the scheme, which charged 7% commissions on unsecured loans up to $20,000 to individuals who would not have qualified for membership in the credit union.
Forte's guilty plea comes a month after the union’s 1,800 members ratified a new five-year contract with Boeing, a major milestone for the union chief.
Prosecutors said Forte, his brother David Forte, and six others, earned more than $105,000 from the kickback scheme, which sanctioned at least 127 loans for more than $2.5 million. Under the scheme, the unqualified members were furnished with false signature cards before they were approved for unsecured loans up to $20,000.
Some loan applications listed phony relatives and included inflated incomes. Those who received $20,000 loans had to kick back as much as $1,400, according to a September 2008 federal indictment in the case.
The credit union was chartered to serve employees at the Boeing plant in Ridley Park. Daniel Forte, as director of marketing, began to branch out into other select employee groups. Forte told loan processors to disregard applicants' credit problems and other information that could jeopardize their loans, according to the indictment.
Charges against Forte’s brother and alleged co-conspirator Thomas Tuohey, who owns a local auto repair shop, are still pending.
Forte, who was elected to the union post only months before he was indicted, made political waves last year in Delaware County after he snubbed the outgoing UAW boss, John DeFrancisco, by endorsing his Republican opponent in a state House race.
