Teamsters: Cashing in Their Chips

Time was when it was difficult not to mention the Teamsters Union Central States Pension Fund and federal organized-crime investigations in the same breath. In one case after another, the feds found, the fund served as a cash cow for the Mafia, especially by investing in Mob-controlled Nevada casinos whose profits could easily be skimmed. By 1976 Central States, the largest multiemployer pension fund in the U.S., had nearly $250 million tied up in Nevada gambling operations.

Now, for the first time in more than 20 years, the Teamsters have cashed in every chip. On Jan. 29 the fund received a final $37.25 million loan repayment on Las Vegas' Aladdin Hotel. "We are now certifiably out of casino investments," said Central States Executive Director George W. Lehr. Placed under tight federal oversight in 1982, the fund now invests through the firm of Morgan Stanley Group Inc., which has redirected assets mostly into stocks and bonds. Last year its portfolio climbed in value from $5.2 billion to $6.4 billion--a smart showing even by the bullish Wall Street standards of 1985.