Tennessee woman indicted for forgery and theft from union pension plan following U.S. Labor Department investigation

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Atlanta – The superior court of Toombs County, Georgia, has indicted the wife of a plan participant on three counts of forgery and theft of $21,443.95 from the Southeastern Carpenters and Millwrights pension trust of Goodlettsville, Tennessee, following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor.

The indictment charges Kristy Dees with forgery and defrauding Marty Dees and the pension trust by making an application for pension benefits on behalf of her husband in October 2005. She applied for the benefits without the authority or knowledge of Marty Dees. Kristy Dees also was indicted on one count of theft by unlawfully and knowingly receiving $21,443.95 from the trust.

“Theft of employee benefit assets jeopardizes the benefits of workers,” said Bradford P. Campbell, acting assistant secretary of the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA). “This case reaffirms our commitment to protect workers’ benefits by identifying criminal activity wherever and whenever it occurs.”

The pension trust covers carpenters in Georgia and South Carolina.

This case was investigated by EBSA’s Atlanta Regional Office and the Toombs County Georgia Sheriff’s Department. EBSA has authority to conduct civil and criminal investigations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The case was prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Office for the Middle Judicial Circuit of Georgia.

An indictment is the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. As in all criminal cases, each defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

State of Georgia v. Dees
Criminal Number 07-CR-148

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.