UPW chief facing mounting charges

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

A federal grand jury yesterday returned a new indictment against longtime Hawai'i labor leader Gary Rodrigues and his daughter, Robin Haunani Rodrigues Sabatini, adding to criminal counts against the two.

The indictment also adds substantial new allegations that Rodrigues got kickbacks from a life insurance agent who sold group policies to his union.

Rodrigues, Sabatini and Rodrigues' lawyer, Doron Weinberg of San Francisco, could not be reached to comment yesterday. Rodrigues previously has denied any wrongdoing.

The 60-year-old Rodrigues remains head of the 12,000-member United Public Workers union and received a vote of confidence from the union's executive board after he was first indicted with Sabatini on March 7.

The first indictment alleged that he had negotiated agreements with Hawaii Dental Service and the Pacific Group Medical Association, under which some of the money paid by union members for monthly premiums was later used to pay consultants reviewing the health plans.

The indictment claimed that Rodrigues instructed the healthcare companies to issue checks for consultant services to companies owned by his daughter. It also said Rodrigues never told the UPW's executive board or union members that he had included consulting fees as part of the contracts and set up his daughter and her company primarily to receive those fees.

The first indictment listed 42 criminal charges against Rodrigues and 39 against his daughter, including mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud a health care benefit program, conspiracy to launder money and money laundering.

Rodrigues alone was charged with embezzling union money.

The revised indictment issued yesterday charges Rodrigues and Sabatini with 50 counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to defraud a health care benefit program, two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 42 counts of money laundering.

Rodrigues alone is charged with five counts of embezzling labor organization assets and one count of accepting kickbacks in connection with an employee welfare benefit plan.

Sabatini and Rodrigues were scheduled to go to trial next month, but the revised indictment most likely will cause a delay of several months.