IBEW Boss Brian Ahakuelo Found Guilty of Serious Corruption

Following his wife’s guilty conviction, Brian Ahakuelo was also found guilty by jury of numerous crimes. These include conspiracy, wire fraud, laundering, and embezzlement.

From the Department of Labor:

On November 21, 2022, in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii, Brian Ahakuelo, former Business Manager/Financial Secretary of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1260 (located in Honolulu, Hawaii), was found guilty following a 16-day jury trial of 1 count of conspiracy, 42 counts of wire fraud, 19 counts of money laundering, and 6 counts of embezzlement of union funds, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 371, 18 U.S.C. 1343, 18 U.S.C. 1957, and 29 U.S.C. 501(c), respectively. Ahakuelo engaged in a conspiracy to divert union funds and property by hiring family members at inflated salaries (some of whom did little or no actual work for the union) and authorized the use of union funds for personal travel, a vehicle, and dining expenditures. After largely depleting the union’s coffers, Ahakuelo, with the help of his wife, Marilyn Ahakuelo, and other union employees, rigged a vote to increase membership dues. The fraudulent election caused members to pay an additional $3.7 million in dues over about 18 months. The guilty verdict follows an investigation by the OLMS Honolulu Resident Investigator Office, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, and the State of Hawaii Attorney General’s Office.

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

To read more, please visit the DOL site here.

To stay up to date on Criminal Union Corruption, check out our 2022 U.S. DOL Criminal LMRDA Enforcement Actions page here.

And to see the previous union corruption case, go here.