A Baltimore County woman pleaded guilty yesterday to embezzling more than $1 million from a union health fund, but union officials said the scheme is still costing members retirement, vacation and medical benefits.
Kristen Kupfer-Lovin, 29, told U.S. District Judge Herbert N. Maletz that she used the money from the Ironworkers Local No. 16 Health Fund to take care of family and friends. But financial disclosure statements do not detail how the former claims agent spent the money stolen from 1989 to 1993.
"[I] spent it on everybody, helped people, took care of my husband, took care of my three children, took care of his family, took care of my family, took care of his friends. . . . The most that I ever bought for myself was a car," she said, adding that she also bought vehicles for her husband, uncle and mother.
A financial statement submitted as part of her plea agreement includes a 1993 Ford Explorer, five dirt bikes and a boat among her assets. It also lists almost $20,000 in credit card debts.
Kupfer-Lovin, who told the judge her assets were worth about $40,000, claimed to have lent money to 23 people from 1989 to 1993. On her financial statement, she wrote, "I cannot determine amounts given or dates given due to the fact of the time span and the various people."
She refused to comment after the arraignment, and was released until sentencing.
Kupfer-Lovin, who lives near Edgemere in the southeastern section of the county, could be sentenced to five years in prison, fined $250,000, and ordered to pay restitution. Defense attorneys argue that she should serve 18 months to two years in prison, but prosecutors are seeking at least 27 months' imprisonment.
Another former fund employee, Sandra M. Edwards, 39, of Abingdon, was indicted last week on charges of embezzling almost $70,000 from 1990 to 1993 as part of the scheme.
Kupfer-Lovin admitted to creating bogus medical claims in the names of union members, arranging for payment of those claims with fund checks, and then substituting herself as the payee on the computer-generated checks. Prosecutors claim that she and Ms. Edwards made out more than 200 checks.
"The health fund took a terrible hit back in those years," said Steven Batoff, the fund's tax attorney.
The union, which represents more than 1,000 Ironworkers at construction sites in Maryland and surrounding states, eliminated dental, optical and disability time coverage from its health plan to cut costs before the embezzlement was discovered. Members also gave up a raise and a "vacation fund," using the money to pay for health care instead, said union financial secretary and treasurer Russell P. Hatch.
A $1.3 million bond covered part of the embezzled money, according to fund officials.
In February, the Ironworkers fund sued Kupfer-Lovin and Ms. Edwards in Baltimore County Circuit Court, seeking to recover the stolen funds plus $10 million in punitive damages. A court order, which expires at the end of the year, prohibits the women from transferring any of their assets.
Defense attorneys said they plan to have a psychiatrist testify about Kupfer-Lovin's mental condition at her sentencing in February. She said she is taking the prescription drugs Prozac and Xanax for depression and has been seeing a psychiatrist since 1989.