Top LA firefighters union officials suspended over alleged misuse of funds
3 LAFD union leaders suspended
Months after the January 2025 LA wildfires, top LA City Fire officials have been suspended after a financial investigation.
LOS ANGELES - The union representing Los Angeles firefighters has been placed under conservatorship and several top officials were suspended due to severe financial mismanagement.
What we know:
On May 5, the IAFF (International Association of Firefighters) Executive Board unanimously voted to place United Firefighters of Los Angeles City (UFLAC), Local 112, under conservatorship following the misuse of $800,000.
Findings from a forensic audit found that over $800,000 in credit card expenses by top UFLAC officials were unaccounted for or lacked proper documentation.
Misuse of funds
By the numbers:
The audit revealed that from July 19, 2018 through November 18, 2024, UFLAC President Freddy Escobar initiated 1,957 transactions on his UFLAC credit card, totaling $311,497.58. According to a letter from IAFF, of the 1,957 transactions, over 70% of the transactions with a dollar value of $230,465.67 had no supporting documentation on file with UFLAC.
"The auditors could not ascertain the purpose of these transactions. There were also 157 transactions with a dollar value of $35,396.67 that were only
partially supported with required documentation. This means there is no way to determine whether $265,862.34 in dues money spent by President Escobar without documentation was for legitimate union expenditures," a portion of the letter read.
The audit also found that between October 2022 and September 2024, then-Secretary Adam Walker transferred $83,414.24 from the UFLAC Fire Foundation’s catastrophic fund directly to his personal bank accounts. IAFF said the transfers had no supporting documentation that they were authorized or that they were reimbursing legitimate expenditures.
IAFF said after Walker transferred the funds, he apparently paid off personal debts such as mortgage and RV loan payments, as well as casino cash ATM withdrawals. Walker claimed that the money was used to reimburse him for two charity events he organized.
"When asked by the IAFF’s reviewers to provide documentation that he had spent over $83,000.00 out of pocket for these two charitable golf events, Walker produced very few receipts and invoices and nowhere near sufficient documentation to account for all of the funds that he transferred out of the Foundation’s account and into his personal bank accounts. Walker admits that he did not keep sufficient records of his claimed expenditures for the golf events. In early 2024, Walker withdrew $5,000.00 from the Foundation’s account and spent the money on personal expenses. Walker claims that the $5,000.00 was "seed money" for a third charitable golf event that never occurred. Walker admitted that he had never repaid the $5,000.00 he had taken from the Foundation’s account and spent on his personal expenses," the letter stated.
The forensic audit found that Walker had 1,010 transactions totaling $152,788.20 in UFLAC credit card expenses between August 24, 2018, and October 4, 2024 without any receipts or documentation. There were also 230 transactions with a dollar value of $29,876.49 that were only partially supported.
In addition to Walker, between July 23, 2018 and February 28, 2023, former UFLAC Treasurer Domingo Albarran had 1,488 transactions with his UFLAC credit card totaling $307,298.48 with no receipts or other documentation. There were also 159 transactions with a dollar value of $46,002.74 that were only partially supported.
IAFF said without any documentation, it's unclear if the money spent was for legitimate union reasons.
Suspended and charged
On November 8, 2024, Walker was suspended from his role as secretary of UFLAC, and from the offices of Chair and Director of the Foundation for failure of duty, breach of fiduciary responsibility, and misappropriation of funds belonging to the Foundation. Charges have been filed against him.
President Escobar, 1st Vice President Coates, and Director Ho were also suspended and IAFF said charges are being filed against them.
Conservator Appointed
What's next:
John Bagala, IAFF 10th District Service Representative, was appointed as Conservator to manage UFLAC. IAFF said the goal of the conservatorship is to restore proper governance, ensure accountability, and hold new elections once financial control is reestablished.