Ed Mullins, former president of the powerful union Sergeants Benevolent Association (SBA) of the NYC police, pleaded “not guilty” after turning himself in yesterday, amid accusations by the FBI of millionaire fraud against the finances of that institution guild.
Mullins, aged 60 years old, allegedly embezzled hundreds of thousands of union dollars to finance his “lavish lifestyle,” federal officials said yesterday. He was accused of charging the guild for hundreds of personal luxury meals from 2017 and also using member dues to pay for jewelry, clothing , appliances and a relative’s college.
Mullins turned himself in to FBI officials yesterday morning, nearly five months after agents raided his home and union offices. He pleaded “not guilty” in Manhattan federal court Wednesday afternoon and was silent as he left the courthouse on $133, 000 Dollars. His movements were limited to the southern New York area.
Federal authorities allege that Mullins submitted false expense reports to obtain reimbursement of union members’ dues through the account of SBA expenses. In addition to making the union pay his personal meal bill, he also allegedly inflated the cost of the receipts and pocketed the rest, the feds allege.
The scandal began on October 5, 2021, when FBI agents were seen transporting boxes of documents from Mullins’ residence in Port Washington, Long Island, and on Worth Street, in Lower Manhattan. Hours later, the then controversial detective resigned under pressure as head of the SBA and requested retirement from the NYPD.
The SBA Board of Directors asked Mullins to resign as soon as it became known that he was the subject of a federal investigation into alleged misuse of union finances, which represents some 13,000 active and retired NYPD sergeants and controls a retirement fund of $264 millions of dollars. It is the second largest police union in NYC and the 5th nationally.
He had joined the department on 23 January 1982 and assumed union leadership in 2002. He earned $ 133, 000 dollars in 2020, records show. Mullins was a frequent critic of Mayor Bill de Blasio and the leadership of the NYPD under his administration. Instead, he was a supporter of Donald Trump and visited him at the White House in February 2020.
Congressman Ritchie Torres -to whom Mullins, as a councilman, hurled homophobic insults at 2020 for supporting cuts in funds to the NYPD- was satisfied with the fall of him in the fall.