8Dec/20

Time to run corrupt Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi out of town!

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Marty Watters, Investigative Reporter

There are many reasons that the corrupt congressman of the 8th District of Illinois, Raja Krishnamoorthi, should be tarred and feathered and run out of town.

For me, the number one reason is Krishnamoorthi's cover-up of the United Airlines asbestos scandal.

https://illinoispaytoplay.com/2020/11/02/congressman-raja-krishnamoorthi-caught-up-in-public-corruption-scandal/

For years, United Airlines has been willfully exposing its employees and the public to dangerous amounts of deadly airborne asbestos fibers.

https://illinoispaytoplay.com/2017/03/27/united-airlines-illegally-dump-asbestos-in-suburban-neighborhood/

And for years, Krishnamoorthi has been doing everything he can to protect United and its top management from criminal prosecution and the enormous civil liabilities that would follow.

Krishnamorthi has been slow walking his so called "investigation" into the illegal removal and dumping of asbestos from United's former World Headquarters in suburban Illinois.

He is doing so by completely ignoring the slam dunk, irrefutable evidence provided to him that proves United is committing these crimes. Evidence that includes, but is not limited to, video and audio recordings, internal United invoices and other documents, lawsuits, material witnesses, and testimony from government officials.

In other words the whole nine yards!

Krishnamoorthi never actually had to do his own investigation because it had already been done and served to him on a silver platter.

All Krishnamoorthi had to do was to make a few phone calls and United Airlines would be held to account for its crimes.

So why is Krishnamoorthi refusing to hold United accountable?

The simple answer is: Because he is a bought and paid-for crooked politician. Who has been promised a bright future if he does what he is told.

UP NEXT

Fake news media's part in the cover-up.

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12Feb/18

You won’t believe the latest in the United Airlines asbestos scandal

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Marty Watters, Invesigative Reporter

Get a load of this:

A&E Services Inc., the company that United Airlines insists was not removing asbestos from its former World Headquarters in suburban Illinois, now wants United to return its asbestos removal equipment!

United contracted A&E Services to remove asbestos from United's former WHQ. From July of 2014 through May of 2015 A&E Services illegally removed, and then illegally dumped the asbestos in open dumpsters clandestinely placed in a residential driveway in Rolling Meadows IL.

United management and their attorneys swear that this did not happen. They claim that A&E was paid over $1.1 million to remove some fiberglass insulation.

Now why would United remove and replace perfectly fine fiberglass insulation? Answer: they wouldn't. Nobody would!

And why would United pay asbestos removal prices to remove fiberglass insulation? Again, they wouldn't. Nobody would!

The fact is that United only began claiming that A&E was removing fiberglass insulation after A&E was caught red-handed illegally removing and dumping asbestos. But prior to A&E being caught committing these crimes, United told its maintenance mechanics that A&E was there to remove asbestos.

Both claims cannot be correct.

Now A&E is in a fight with United over equipment that was never returned to owner Robert Nykaza after his company was banned from the property.

Unfortunately for United, the list of equipment that Nykaza is demanding United return to him is clearly asbestos removal equipment. It can now be added to the mountain of irrefutable proof that A&E illegally removed asbestos from United's WHQ. Brilliant move, Robert!

I look forward to seeing how United's attorneys will try to spin this one.

As for the mentally unstable Robert Nykaza, he might want to start working on his explanation for why he had asbestos removal equipment at United, and why he hired Rich Hayes, the owner/operator of a little power washing business in Rolling Meadows, to supervise a multimillion dollar asbestos removal project at United.

But the explanation I am most looking forward to is the one from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration explaining why they are still allowing United to willfully expose its employees and anyone else who walks into the former WHQ to deadly airborne asbestos.

OSHA Director Angeline Loftus

United Airlines’ asbestos cover-up: OSHA Director commits perjury

 

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12Apr/17

United Airlines also illegally dumped asbestos next to children’s playground!

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Marty Watters, Investigative Reporter

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Mr. Oscar Munoz, beating up paying customers whose only crime was to choose to fly United Airlines is one thing.

But an airline that illegally dumps asbestos next to a children's playground and then does everything in its considerable power to conceal the crime?

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That's going way too far. Even for United!

-----------------------------------------------------------

----- Original Message ------

From: Marty Watters
To: Oscar Munoz
Cc: Christina Landgraf, Megan McCarthy, Brett Hart
Sent: April 12, 2017 at 8:06 AM
Subject: Oscar Munoz "It's never too late to do the right thing"

Oscar

Thank you for that quote. I agree wholeheartedly.

Now when can I expect to hear from you to discuss United's considerable asbestos problem?

Marty Watters

------ Original Message ------

From: Marty Watters
To: Oscar Munoz
Cc: Christina Landgraf, Brett Hart
Sent: April 10, 2017 at 2:38 PM
Subject: Fwd: United Airlines illegally dumped asbestos next to children's park

I have not heard from anyone at United. Today is your deadline.

https://www.yahoo.com/tech/just-kill-united-passenger-says-drools-blood-video-190048492.html

------ Original Message ------

From: Marty Watters
To: Oscar Munoz
Cc: Christina Landgraf, Brett Hart
Sent: April 7, 2017 at 8:34 AM
Subject: United Airlines illegally dumped asbestos next to children's park

Mr. Oscar Munoz

Illegally parking open dumpsters full of asbestos next to a children's park is not the behavior of a company that cares.

http://rmparks.org/locations/waverly_park

Contact me at <redacted>

Marty Watters
Investigative Reporter
Illinoispaytoplay.com

------ Original Message ------

From: Marty Watters
To: Oscar Munoz
Cc: Christina Landgraf, Brett Hart
Sent: March 27, 2017 at 10:21 AM
Subject: United Airlines illegally dumped asbestos in suburban neighborhood

Oscar Munoz

Would you care to comment?

Marty Watters

United Airlines illegally dumped asbestos in suburban neighborhood

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oscar, you have finally expressed your shame and have accepted responsibility for United's thug-like actions that sent 69-year-old Dr. David Dao to the hospital.

Now it's time for you and United to accept the shame and responsibility for exposing untold numbers of men, women and children to airborne asbestos fibers.

They also deserve an apology from you, along with a commitment from United to voluntarily provide them the proper medical attention.

Like you said, Oscar: "It's never too late to do the right thing".

Or was that just lip service?

Related: United Airlines’ illegal abatement at former World Headquarters exposing employees to airborne asbestos fibers

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27Mar/17

United Airlines illegally dumped asbestos in suburban neighborhood

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Marty Watters, Investigative Reporter

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In an effort to conceal its asbestos liabilities from employees and shareholders, United Airlines hired contractor A&E Services Inc. to illegally dump asbestos A&E removed from United's former World Headquarters in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.

To accomplish this act of deception, A&E owner Robert Nykaza convinced his longtime friend, Dan Vessel, to keep open dumpsters in his driveway at 2201 Cedar St. Rolling Meadows IL so that A&E could illegally dump the asbestos without the governing authorities knowing.

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What United management and Nykaza did not anticipate was that Vessel would reveal their criminal activity to a whistleblower.

"My buddy is doing a big asbestos removal job at United and he is dumping it in my driveway" Vessel told said whistleblower.

Ouch! That's what we call a "smoking gun".

(United Airlines manager to employees: “it would be difficult to prove” United was removing asbestos)

After the initial article on IP2P came out exposing United's illegal asbestos dumping at his house, Vessel threatened the whistleblower, telling him "you better watch your back"  and  "you can't beat United Airlines".

Here's the irony, Mr. Vessel. Your testimony may be what ultimately brings United's asbestos house of cards crashing down.

And United knows that.

So perhaps you should follow your own "watch your back" admonition.

Coincidentally, Vessel was not the only person to issue a threat.

Nykaza, United's asbestos contractor, told me that he has friends in Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency, and that "his boys will find me".

During his emotional rant, Nykaza suggested that he could kill me and get away with it.

He also kept stressing that he was mentally unstable.

You'll get no argument from me on that, Bob.

What makes this even more disturbing is that this guy is an elected official from Barrington Township, IL.

Robert Nykaza

Robert Nykaza

The real questions now are:

Do the good folks in Barrington Township know they have a mentally unstable Trustee?

And

Did Robert Nykaza break the law because he is mentally unstable, or is he becoming unhinged because he got caught red-handed breaking the law?

Either way, his troubles are just begining.

Did I mention embezzlement and kickbacks yet? I'll get to that soon.

In the meantime, I highly recommend Nykaza and Vessel seek legal counsel .

More to come...

Related: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/united-airlines-warned-employees-avoid-breathing-airborne

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31Aug/16

United Airlines manager caught lying to OSHA in asbestos case

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Marty Watters, Investigative Reporter

Sylvia Empen

Sylvia Empen

Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials Sukhvir Kaur and Angeline Loftus recently confirmed that United Airlines facilities maintenance manager Sylvia Empen lied to OSHA officials, and that by doing so Empen broke the law and could face criminal charges.

And as with many federal cases, it could be the cover-up that ultimately lands people in jail.

And for her part in the illegal removal and dumping of asbestos from buildings at United's former World Headquarters (WHQ), jail might be just where Empen is headed.

 DOJ Stresses Individual Accountability in New “Yates Memo”

Enhanced Criminal Prosecutions of Worker Safety Violations – Employers Beware

Here are the facts:

Empen contracted A&E Services Inc. to remove asbestos from United's former WHQ.

A&E Services hired Mexican day labor on an ongoing basis to illegally remove and dump the asbestos.

In doing so A&E exposed United employees and the public to vast amounts of airborne asbestos fibers.

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United employees then filed an official complaint with OSHA.

Ms. Empen told OSHA officials who were investigating that complaint for the record that A&E Services was removing fiberglass insulation and not asbestos.

Now thanks to whistleblowers at United, OSHA officials have learned that A&E Services was in fact removing large amounts of asbestos - not fiberglass insulation - from United's former WHQ, and that Empen lied to them during the investigation.

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Thanks to Empen's lies, OSHA prematurely closed its investigation. As a result, United employees and members of the public are still being exposed to airborne asbestos fibers throughout the entire campus of United's former WHQ.

It has also been established in recent meetings with OSHA officials that during their interviews with United employees, OSHA investigators did not inform the employees of their whistleblower protection rights.

That will be very important moving forward due to the fact that United employees have since endured physical threats and retaliations at work for telling OSHA investigators and United management what they knew about the illegal asbestos removal.

Steps are now being taken to ensure that United employees begin receiving the workplace protections that they are due under the federal whistleblower protection laws.

Furthermore, U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon has been informed of this situation and has even received a referral from the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office to investigate these developments due to concerns that United has violated the Non-Prosecution Agreement it entered into in a public corruption case with that office.

The question now is: How high up the United Airlines management chain does this cover-up go?

Oscar Munoz, does the buck stop with you?

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4Jan/16

United Airlines’ political protection in Chicago – EPA and OSHA refuse to enforce their own laws

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Marty Watters, Investigative Reporter

 

 

United Airlines executives were so confident of the protection racket they enjoy in Chicago that they continued to break asbestos laws - right in plain view of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors.

This display of arrogance is so unbelievably brazen considering the fact that the EPA and OSHA put other people in prison for breaking these same asbestos laws.

In March of 2015, the EPA and OSHA received multiple complaints that United was illegally removing and dumping asbestos from its former World Headquarters (WHQ) in suburban Chicago.

So they begrudgingly opened a so-called " joint investigation".

What followed is a blatant display of government corruption that is hard to fathom even for Chicago.

For example: During the EPA's and OSHA's so-called "joint investigation" of illegal asbestos removal at United's former WHQ, government officials were given the exact time and location of crimes in progress at the very same facility they were supposedly investigating.

---------------------------------------------------

From: Marty Watters

Sent: Thursday, April 30, 2015 3:28 PM
To: Linda Rosen (EPA)
Subject: United Airlines (illegal asbestos removal & dumping)

Linda

A&E Services, Inc. is presently removing asbestos illegally by the dry removal method at United Airlines' campus located at 1200 E. Algonquin Rd. Elk Grove Village IL.

The work that I am bringing to your attention this time, is being done in machine room 1 (boiler room) of the south building. A&E is scraping the friable spray-on asbestos fireproofing material off the ceiling deck. Again, no notice was given and regulations are not being followed. And once again, the asbestos that was removed from the ceiling is being transported to another location for undisclosed dumping.

And as we discussed, the illegal dumping of asbestos is definitely with-in your purview.

The attached pictures are of the area where this illegal abatement is happening.

The work is being done in the evening.

You said you need to catch them in the act. Well go do so.

As required by whistleblower protection mandates I must insist that the attached pictures and the existence of them not be disclosed to United Airlines or anyone outside of the EPA until consent is given.

Marty Watters
(redacted)

United Airlines Warned Employees: ‘Avoid Breathing Airborne Asbestos Fibers’

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/barbara-hollingsworth/united-airlines-warned-employees-avoid-breathing-airborne

United Airlines Told Employees to “Avoid Breathing Airborne Asbestos Fibers”? We’d Call That #MissionImpossible

http://baronandbudd.com/protecting-whats-right/2015/01/avoid-breathing-airborne-asbestos-fibers/

---------------------------------------------------------

In the days to follow, United's asbestos contractor, A&E Services Inc., completed this particular illegal asbestos removal project and then moved on to another without even one visit from EPA or OSHA inspectors.

Clearly the EPA and OSHA didn't really want to catch United in the act.

Luckily someone else caught them in the act - on video.

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Oops! The bad guys didn't see that coming.

And now corrupt government officials are trying their best to escape the fact that a video recording of this illegal asbestos removal project exists.

They also did not anticipate me obtaining A&E Services' invoices for all the illegal asbestos removal work it was doing for United.

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Over the course of ten months, A&E submitted 68 separate illegal asbestos abatement invoices and was paid immediately upon completion of each job.

Under normal circumstances, where a company is not politically protected and the law is enforced, each and every one of those 68 separate illegal asbestos jobs would have garnered a minimum of at least one $70K "willful violation" citation from OSHA. That's a total of $4.7 million in fines just for starters.

In addition, A&E Services owner Robert Nykaza - along with numerous United managers - would be singing like canaries to stay out of prison.

And most troubling of all for the big-shots at United, this would all lead to the opening of a very big can of worms involving financial records, corporate filings and false disclosure statements.

That's when the fun would really begin!

Of course, United executives could not afford to let that happen. Not when they could just buy political protection.

Needless to say, this kind of corruption causes government officials to go completely deaf and blind to all things bad. And also explains why Nykaza has been threatening me and a United Airlines whistleblower because we are exposing them. I'll have more on Nykaza at a later date.

Even in Chicago, only big well-connected corporations like United are afforded this level of political protection.

Put simply, United Airlines enjoys above-the-law status for the moment.

The Question is: With more proof of United's criminal behavior on the way, how long will that last?

More to come....

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18Nov/15

United Airlines’ asbestos cover-up: OSHA Director commits perjury

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Marty Watters, Investigative Reporter

OSHA Director Angeline Loftus

OSHA Director Angeline Loftus

 

The fact that United Airlines is claiming to have lost all records of its illegal removal and disposal of asbestos from its former World Headquarters in suburban Chicago should come as no surprise.

Did anyone really think United was going to confess to willfully exposing people to a known carcinogen? Of course not.

(United Airlines’ illegal abatement at former World Headquarters exposing employees to airborne asbestos fibers)

What did surprise me and what should trouble anyone who believes in honest government is this:

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is accepting United's "lost records" defense even though I personally provided OSHA with copies of the very same records United claims are missing. Records that clearly would be considered inculpatory evidence in a criminal case against United.

Even more disturbing, OSHA area director Angeline Loftus has now signed a sworn declaration that was filed in Administrative Law Judge Dennis Phillips' court stating that these damning asbestos records do not exist. An assertion that Loftus knows is a complete falsehood.

Ooops! That's called perjury, Angie. That's a crime.

And so is covering up United's criminal behavior.

 

Here's an excerpt from Loftus' sworn declaration:

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Loftus refuses to acknowledge the existence of the so-called "missing records" because they prove that United was illegally removing asbestos from its former WHQ

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Loftus also knows that the so-called "missing records" reveal that United officials were committing accounting fraud in a quest to conceal the airlines' asbestos liabilities and related criminal behavior.

Over the course of ten months, A&E Services Inc. of Barrington, IL (Robert Nykaza) was paid over $1.1 million to illegally remove asbestos-containing insulation from United's former WHQ.

Here's how the scam worked:

A&E would submit differently worded invoices with the same invoice number for work performed. The more descriptive invoice, which deceptively referred to asbestos-containing material as "fiberglass insulation", would get buried in facilities manager Sylvia Empen's file.

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Meanwhile the less descriptive line item invoice would be submitted for payment in full on the personal company credit card of one of several United managers - in many cases before the work was even completed.

 

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Paying by credit card allowed United to circumvent internal controls, thus concealing its illegal asbestos abatement and forgoing all the nasty liabilities that go with it.

Ms. Loftus was made aware of all of this before signing the sworn declaration.

There is no question that United would have liked these records to just disappear.

Unfortunately for United, they did not.

The questions to ask now are:

Why is OSHA protecting United Airlines when it should be prosecuting it for endangering employees and the public?

And

Does OSHA area director Angie Loftus have a summer home in South Carolina like United's friend at the New Jersey Port Authority?

I called Ms. Loftus for comment. She did not deny that she had committed perjury. She did refer me to attorneys in the Secretary of Labors office. I am still waiting to hear back from them.

Much more to come.....

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27Jul/15

United Airlines’ illegal abatement at former World Headquarters exposing employees to airborne asbestos fibers

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Marty Watters, Investigative Reporter

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United Airlines has been illegally removing asbestos from its former World Headquarters and training center, knowingly exposing its employees to airborne asbestos fibers.

Wow! If United can do something this deplorable to its own employees, how seriously do they take the safety of the flying public?

The laws and regulations governing the removal and disposal of asbestos are expensive, burdensome and impose substantial liabilities.

Who needs that headache? Certainly not a Chicago-based, politically-connected, large corporation like United Airlines.

United management apparently determined that it is better for their bottom line to simply ignore those pesky laws!

For example, United recently proceeded to secretly remove asbestos spray-on fire proofing material from classrooms at its training center in Elk Grove Village, IL.

Here's how they went about it:

Asbestos spray-on fireproofing material / shaded green

Asbestos spray-on fireproofing material / shaded green

 

United hired outside contractor A&E Services, Inc. to come in and scrape the asbestos-containing material from the classroom ceilings. This was done without the mandated notifications and safety measures required by law.

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In addition, A&E was clandestinely bagging the asbestos material and related contaminated waste. Then the contractor illegally transported the bags filled with asbestos to a dumpster that Robert Nykaza, the owner of A&E, had secretly placed in a friend's residential driveway miles away from the United training center.

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This was clearly an egregious violation of EPA regulations.

While all this was going on, United employees were unwittingly being exposed to cancer-causing airborne asbestos fibers.

But wait, it gets even better.

A&E left behind piles of the friable asbestos material on top of the duct work for the building's ventilation system..

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United employees were then directed to enter the asbestos contaminated classrooms and install a suspended ceiling below the duct work where large amounts of loose asbestos fibers came to rest, concealing them from view.

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End result: United classrooms are now ready for more unsuspecting employees to fill their lungs with airborne asbestos fibers.

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This is just one of the many examples of how United disregards the safety and health of its employees when dealing with the serious asbestos problem it has at its former World Headquarters in suburban Chicago.

Although United was contacted multiple times, corporate officials have so far declined to respond to my request for comment.

Instead, through their attorneys at Seyfarth Shaw LLP, these same United officials have made convoluted arguments to a judge trying to impede my investigation.

Does United Airlines really believe that the federal courts should suspend the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and infringe on the freedom of the press to cover up their own wrongdoing?

Developing......

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