The former officer of the Firefighters Union faces an internal investigation into charitable finances

A former high -level officer of the Los Angeles Fire Service of the Fire Service has been withdrawn from his post and faces an internal investigation into allegations that he is committed to financial irregularities involving the union’s charitable organization for injured firefighters, in particular by using $ 5,000 for personal expenses.

International insurance. Firefighters at the end of last year suspended Adam Walker from the influencing office of secretary to the Los Angeles City united firefighters and accused him of having badly exceeded more than $ 75,000 of the funds of the charity in his personal accounts from December 2022 to January 2024, internal internal files examined by Times Show.

Walker told Times that allegations were false. He said that the account he had drawn was not for the charitable organization, the UFLAC Fire Foundation, but that it was set up for two golf tournaments to collect funds for a former disabled firefighter. All deposits were reimbursements for its legitimate expenses for tournaments, said Walker.

“No money of money was money from the foundation,” he added. He said that he understood that the deposits “seem bad” but were a reflection of his “bad accounting” and not reprehensible acts.

Walker, who remains at work as a firefighter, said that he had provided receipts to the IAF for all his expenses. Times asked him for copies of receipts, especially for greater expenses, and he sent screenshots that totaled just over $ 17,000.

The IAFF, based in Washington DC, is the parental organization of the UFLAC and other local firefighters unions across the country. He also suspended Walker of his posts as president and director of the Foundation, according to the files and a person familiar with the investigation, who asked not to be appointed because he is not authorized to speak publicly. The UFLAC website indicates that the foundation helps the injured firefighters and their families, offers scholarships and helps firefighters who have lost their homes in January fires.

An IAFF spokesperson said in a statement: “We take the allegations of financial misconduct very seriously within the UFLAC Fire Foundation. … The IAFF has launched an independent forensic audit to investigate the situation, and we will take the appropriate measures if necessary. »»

The person with knowledge of the survey said that the IAFF also examines the finances of the UFLAC, including the use of union credit cards by the officers. Once the IAFF has completed its exam, he said, it will determine whether the UFLAC should be placed under guardianship, which could lead to the deletion of the officers.

The president of the UFLAC, Freddy Escobar, who is also president of the Foundation, refused to be interviewed or to answer a series of written questions from the Times, including on the Revue IAFF des Finances du Syndicat Local.

In an email, Escobar said: “I have no comments on allegations against Adam Walker because these are just that – allegations. This question is currently underway and everyone is due to a regular procedure. »»

The UFLAC is a political force in the city, while elected officials appreciate its mentions and financial contributions, although it supported the losing candidate during the last open mayor elections.

The disclosure of allegations against Walker, deposited by IAFF at the end of last year, comes when Escobar and other UFLac leaders criticized Mayor Karen Bass for dismissed the chief of Lafd Kristin Crowley last month. Bass said Crowley had failed to adequately prepare for the January 7 fire which destroyed a large part of the Pacific Palisades and killed 12 people.

Crowley’s dismissal followed the investigations on times on his decisions not to keep 1,000 firefighters in service in the hours preceding the Blaze and not to pre -draw the palisades none of the dozens of additional firefighters who were available, despite the warnings of fire time putting life in danger. ESCOBAR and other UFLAC officers failed on Tuesday to persuade the municipal council to reintegrate Crowley, with only two of the 15 members of the voting council for reintegration.

The IAFF accused Walker of the embezzlement of funds, the lacin, violation of the trustee and other reprehensible acts, which are administrative allegations within the Union and not criminal accusations, according to IAFF files.

A union hearing on the accusations is pending, with a board of directors of the agents of the IAFF which decides to submit Walker to a union trial. If he is found guilty of internal accusations, he could be permanent of union membership and sentenced to a return to the foundation, according to the person close to the investigation.

The amount of money that Walker is accused of withdrawing poorly or mistreating otherwise represents an important part of the assets of the UFLAC Fire Foundation, which totaled around $ 287,000 during the year 2022-23, the most recent period for which its federal tax declarations are available.

The allegations against Walker were stated in two letters which were sent to him by the IAFF in November and December, signed by the president of the association, Edward Kelly, who did not respond to an interview request.

In letters, Walker is accused of having withdrawn the more than $ 75,000 from the Catastrophic Fund for the Foundation and to place it in its accounts without authorization from the Board of Directors of the Foundation. The $ 5,000 he is accused of using for personal expenses was deposited in his account in January 2024, according to letters, which do not specifically describe the expenses.

Walker told Times that he intended to use $ 5,000 as a deposit in a golf course for a third tournament, which the organizers later decided not to stage. He said he was using nothing for personal expenses.

Among the expenses, Walker would have initiated without the authorization of the Board Foundation, there were $ 2,400 in target gift cards and visa “for staff, members and people who support the local section 112 and its members”, according to Walker, the letters of IAFF claim that Walker did not provide local gift cards.

In total, the IAFF accused Walker of using the foundation credit card to make 57 purchases from many retailers, including 7-Eleven, Amazon and Dick’s Sporting Goods, “without submitting receipts or detailed invoices to the Foundation,” said the December letter. The letter in November said that it “had not provided receipts to many of these purchases to establish that they were intended for legitimate foundations or for other commercial purposes”.

Walker is also accused of using the credit card to buy tires for his personal vehicle and not to reimburse the foundation after being interviewed more than four months later on the purchase, the letters said.

In addition, the IAFF allegedly alleged that Walker used the foundation credit card to buy nearly $ 1,300 in petrol in a dozen separate transactions “without received or explanation of the objective of the purchase”.

Walker said all gift cards and other purchases were for legitimate foundation. He used the foundation’s credit card instead of his personal person to buy the tires, he said, and bought the gas because he was driving his personal car on the foundation business.