by Mary Margaret Olohan
The FBI and IRS raided the home of the United Automobile Worker Chief President Gary Jones Wednesday and discovered wads of cash.
As many as twelve agents enacted a “knock and announce” protocol as they raided Jones’ Detroit home, according to the Detroit Free Press. Authorities also raided the former UAW chief’s California home, Dennis Williams, the UAW Michigan conference center, and several other UAW spots in Wisconsin and Missouri.
47-year-old neighbor J. Kevin Telepo watched the raid through the window using binoculars and saw FBI agents counting “wads” of money in Jones’ garage, the Detroit Free Press reports.
“FBI raiding neighbor’s house” Telepo texted his wife.
“What did he do?” his wife asked him.
“Not sure. FBI & IRS. Pile of cash in garage,” Telepo texted her back.
The FBI raid may be linked to a scandal surrounding misspent money that the UAW was supposed to use for a joint training center with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Millions of dollars intended for worker training have been spent on former union and company officials, the Detroit Free Press reports.
“As the leader of the UAW, President Jones is determined to uncover and address any and all wrongdoing, wherever it might lead,” the UAW said in a statement.
“There was absolutely no need for search warrants to be used by the government today — the UAW has voluntarily responded to every request the government has made throughout the course of its investigation, produced literally hundreds of thousands of documents and other materials to the government, and most importantly, when wrongdoing has been discovered, we have taken strong action to address it.”
The UAW also said that they will continue to cooperate with the government investigation.
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Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Gary Jones” by UAW.
