SEIU’s Tyrone Freeman: Entrepreneur of the Year

Since Tasty’s recent post about Tyrone Freeman, several readers have spotted him in Los Angeles.

What’s Ty up to these days?

Well, it looks like he’s taken a page out of Andy Stern’s “entrepreneurial” playbook.

Freeman, who formerly headed the nation’s largest union of homecare workers (SEIU Local 6434), is now running a consulting firm to help homecare companies make more profit.

No joke.

Tyrone’s firm is called Maven Innovative Consultancy, LLC. The company’s homepage has images like this:

  

And this:

But wait a sec. Tasty thought Tyrone wanted to defend workers?

Nope.

His website says,

“Mr. Freeman specializes in the defense of small business, in the full range of business matters, including advising business owners. In addition, Mr. Freeman is an Executive with substantial business development, management/leadership experience. High premium on providing cost saving management practices… operational cost saving… Maven Innovative Consultancy, LLC – a boutique consulting firm specializing in the exclusive representation of management in business affairs. A large portion of the Firm’s clients are home care agencies and other health-care related employers.”

Tyrone says he’s a “specialist” in “housing development strategies.”

That’s interesting.

When Freeman was the president of SEIU Local 6434 and also a member of SEIU’s International Executive Board, he set up a housing scam that helped land him in jail.

In 2004, Freeman set up a nonprofit housing organization called the “Long Term Care Housing Corp” to supposedly build housing for low-income workers.

Only… it didn’t.

Freeman, who controlled the organization, listed the home of one of his aides, Rickman Jackson, as the organization’s administrative office. Ty then paid Jackson tens of thousands of dollars in “rent,” which Jackson pocketed.

Btw, despite stealing $33,000 from workers, Jackson is still on SEIU’s payroll to this day.

That’s not all.

Freeman also had the housing organization hire him as a “consultant” and pay him tens of thousands of dollars of the in consulting fees, according to an SEIU report described by the Los Angeles Times. (Paul Pringle, “Union-founded nonprofit spent zero on its charitable purpose in two years,” Los Angeles Times, December 13, 2008)

In other words, Freeman is quite an expert in “housing development strategies.”

Which brings us to the elephant in the room.

Why did SEIU’s top officials reportedly devise a scheme to secretly fund Freeman’s legal defense after he was indicted in February 2012 for stealing millions of dollars from SEIU’s own members?

In 2008 -- after the Los Angeles Times published a series of revelations about Freeman’s corruption (remember the Grand Havana Room cigar club?) -- SEIU officials ousted Freeman, banned him for life from SEIU membership, and ordered him to pay back more than $1 million in money he stole from SEIU’s members.

Tasty bets dollars to donuts that Freeman never paid back the $1 million.

So… why the f*ck did SEIU officials secretly give him six and seven figures to fund his criminal defense?

What role did Andy Stern play in the secret payments? What about Mary Kay Henry? She became president of SEIU on May 8, 2010 and presumably was involved in funding Freeman’s legal defense until his appeal was dismissed in October 2014.

SEIU officials are struggling with the union’s widening sexual harassment scandal. They also need to investigate the massive ethical questions swirling around the Freeman scandal. For example, did SEIU officials commit conflict-of-interest violations by diverting SEIU cash to Freeman in order to buy his silence about their involvement in his crimes?

Workers have enough problems with greedy bosses and corrupt politicians. They deserve democratic, transparent and accountable unions. It's time for SEIU to come clean.

$1,308 Bill from Cigar Club Shows Vastness of SEIU Corruption Scandal

Remy Louis XIII cognac

It’s been widely reported that SEIU’s Tyrone Freeman spent thousands of dollars of workers’ dues money at the Grand Havana Room in Beverly Hills. 

But what, exactly, did he spend the money on?

Well, put on your seatbelt and check out the following receipt filed by U.S. prosecutors during the pre-sentencing phase of Freeman’s criminal proceeding. This is the same SEIU corruption scandal that may have finally ensnared Eliseo Medina, who recently announced his rapid resignation as SEIU’s Secretary-Treasurer.

At 10:45pm on a Monday night in November of 2007, Freeman and five of his guests spent a total $1,308 during an after-dinner binge of alcohol, cigars, sushi and pastries.

On the receipt, you’ll find the infamous $175 glass of cognac, which is labeled as “Remy Louis 13.” 

According to the bill, Freeman and his pals consumed a stunning amount of booze, food and cigars:  8 mojitos; 2 Grey Gooses (vodka); 2 Chopin vodkas (a hand-made vodka from Poland); 9 martinis made with Chopin vodka; a Remy Martin cognac; a Baileys whiskey; 25 cigars; salmon and lobster rolls; raspberry crème brulee; cheesecake; sushi… and the list goes on. 

(Tasty can’t figure out what some of the items are -- three “G Summerland PN” at $18 a piece?).

Quite a stunning indictment of all the klepto-crats at SEIU, who hid this corruption from SEIU's members for years. Tasty wonders what would have happened if Sal Rosselli and his reformers hadn't blown the whistle on Freeman and his partners in crime, the Andy Stern/Mary Kay Henry gang. Presumably, SEIU’s fatcats would have kept on robbing millions of dollars from SEIU’s members.

   $1,308 bill from the Grand Havana Room that was presented by U.S. prosecutors during SEIU's corruption scan...

Latest Gig for SEIU’s Tyrone Freeman?

SEIU's Tyrone Freeman

So what’s Tyrone Freeman up to these days… besides waiting to be tried on 15 criminal counts that could land him in prison for 200 years?

Well, a resourceful reader has uncovered the latest details of Freeman’s stranger-than-fiction odyssey. It turns out that Tyrone is seeking new outlets for the “entrepreneurial skills” that he so infamously displayed at SEIU Local 6434.

In fact, today and tomorrow -- October 11 and 12 -- Tyrone will be peddling vitamins to golfers in Virginia while under the court’s close supervision.

According to a court order that’s posted below, Freeman’s attorneys obtained permission from a judge so that Tyrone could travel out of Pennsylvania for 48 hours. The judge’s two-page order permits Freeman -- under strict limits -- to travel to the Eagle Haven Golf Course in Norfolk, VA so he can “assess the viability of the commissary market for multivitamins.”

Here’s an excerpt from the judge’s order (see the full order below):

Defendant TYRONE RICKY FREEMAN may travel outside the state of Pennsylvania from October 10, 2012 through October 12, 2012 for the limited purpose of attending the Hampton Roads ALA Golf and Oyster Roast at the Eagle Haven Golf Course in Norfolk Virginia in order to assess the viability of the commissary market for multivitamins produced by Potomac Products, Inc.

Defendant TYRONE RICKY FREEMAN may travel via automobile commencing on October 10, 2012, but must return to the state of Pennsylvania by 12:00 p.m. midnight on October 12, 2012.

Prior to departure, defendant TYRONE RICKY FREEMAN will provide United States Pretrial Officer Gregory Wilson a written itinerary of where he will be staying while outside the Western District of Pennsylvania and what business events he will be attending.

But wait… that’s not all!

You see, Freeman’s entrepreneurial skills may only matched by those of SEIU President Emeritus Andy Stern, who now famously peddles pharmaceutical products on behalf of his billionaire sugar daddy! Way to go, SEIU!

It turns out that Freeman -- besides hawking vitamins -- is also the proud founder of the “Cigars Cartel of America, LLC,” a business venture that “embellishes a bigger than life persona” and allows Tyrone to pursue his “passion” for the “artistry of cigar making,” according to the Cartel’s website. (Tasty is not kidding.)

The website implausibly claims that Freeman is “equipped with an MBA in International business” that helps him sell his “El Jefe” cigars to “one enthusiast at a time.”

Of course, Freeman’s “passion” for cigars is well-documented in criminal indictments and court records, which allege that Tyrone embezzled buckets of dues money from low-wage SEIU members in order to enjoy leisure-filled afternoons in Beverly Hills cigar bars.

Freeman’s website includes multiple romantic flourishes like this one:

As he travels the great regions of our country, his passion for creating great cigars can be experienced in the sharing of his knowledge and understanding of the Puerto Rican flagship cigar “El Jefe.”

Whoops! Sounds like Tyrone conveniently forgot to tell all the cigar-smokers about that pesky 15-count criminal indictment that puts a kink in Ty's cross-country travels.

Oh, and check out this dramatic statement on the Cartel’s website:

There are certain times in history when you know a single moment changed the course of events for time to come. For cigar smokers that moment was August14, 2011. On that day, the Cigars Cartel of America, LLC was founded.

Wow!   

Of course, it goes without saying that many of us are awaiting a very different moment in history. For healthcare workers and union reformers, that moment will come when a jury announces a guilty verdict for Freeman, Andy Stern, Mary Kay Henry, Eliseo Medina, Tom Woodruff, Dave Regan and all the other corrupt fat-cats hiding inside the Purple Palace!

Court Order Permitting SEIU's Tyrone Freeman To Travel To VA Golf Tournament to Sell Vitamins October 2012