Olmsted Township woman charged with embezzling from labor union

A two-count criminal indictment was filed charging an Olmsted Township woman with embezzling approximately $13,906 from Pipe Fitter Local Union No. 120, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.

Heather Banhidy, 50, formerly worked for Local 120 as a clerical employee. In that capacity, she embezzled funds from approximately December 2011 through September 2013. Banhidy also caused the falsification, concealment, withholding and destruction of union dues receipts and records of payments received by Local 120 as part of her embezzlement scheme, according to the indictment.

If convicted, the defendants’ sentences will be determined by the Court after review of the factors unique to this case, including the defendants’ prior criminal records, the defendants’ roles in the offense and the characteristics of the criminal conduct.  In all cases, the sentence will not exceed the statutory maximum and in most cases it will be less than the maximum.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Om Kakani, following an investigation by the agents of the Department of Labor, Office of Labor-Management Standards.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt.  A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.