Teamsters Pension Fund

THE TEAMSTERS Pension Fund, formally the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund, was created in the mid-1950s and came to be known by many as organized crime's bank.[Page 794] The corrupt use of the fund has been well documented beginning in the 1960s in numerous investigations, commissions, reports, prosecutions and media forums.

The fund gained notoriety because International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) Pension Fund managers would loan money from the fund to organized criminals, usually through straw men, for casinos, hotels, and resorts. The recipients of the fund proceeds included such noteworthy establishments as Las Vegas, Nevada, casinos Circus Circus, Caesar's Palace, the Dunes, and the Sands. So-called finders fees were charged, kickbacks were common, and loans were years delinquent but carried as assets. ...