LA firefighters union leaders suspended after audit finds $800,000 in
undocumented spending
[May 06, 2025]
By JAIMIE DING
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Top officials at the Los Angeles firefighters labor
union were suspended Monday after an audit conducted by its parent
organization found over $800,000 in credit card spending, some of it by
the union's president, could not be accounted for.
The International Association of Fire Fighters, which oversees
firefighter unions across the country, wrote in a letter to the United
Firefighters of Los Angeles City that it would be placing the union
under a conservatorship to properly manage its finances. The union
represents more than 3,600 members of the Los Angeles Fire Department,
according to its LinkedIn.
According to the letter from IAFF President Edward Kelly, the
organization voted to suspend union President Freddy Escobar and two
other officials who made thousands of credit card transactions with no
receipts or other documentation justifying them.
Escobar posted a statement on his Instagram account denying the
allegations.
“I’m going to defend myself because I have nothing to hide and I have
always worked for the benefit of our membership for the greater good,”
the post said. “These false allegations are disgusting and politically
motivated by those who want to attack the union and me personally and
I’m going to clear my name."
The union's troubles began in October 2024, when an officer flagged
concerns about improper record-keeping to the parent organization. An
investigation found that then-secretary Adam Walker transferred, without
authorization, more than $80,000 from the union's nonprofit to support
firefighters and families directly into his personal bank accounts,
according to IAFF.
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Investigators found that after moving those funds, Walker paid off
substantial personal debts such as mortgage and loan payments, as
well as casino cash ATM withdrawals.
He was suspended for “breach of fiduciary responsibility and
misappropriation of funds,” Kelly said. Contact information could
not be located for requesting comment from Walker.
A more extensive audit was ordered, revealing that Escobar had spent
more than $300,000 on his union credit card between July 2018 and
November 2024. Kelly said there was no way to determine that the
funds were used for “legitimate union expenditures.”
Auditors had warned union leadership in March 2024 there were
“significant deficiencies” in the local's financial practices.
Escobar spent more than $70,000 without submitting a single receipt
that year.
A former treasurer, Domingo Albarran, was also found to have spent
more than $300,000 over about five years without documentation of
the expenditures, according to the letter.
The union's parent organization voted to suspend Vice Presidents
Chuong Ho and Doug Coates for failing to ensure leaders were
following policy.
“The financial malpractice by the leadership of UFLAC has dealt
serious harm to the membership,” Kelly said.
Contact information for Albarran, Ho and Coates could not be
immediately located.
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