General Motors announced that Joe Ashton, a former United Auto Workers vice president, has resigned from the company's board.
He joined the board in August 2014, nominated by the union's Retiree Medical Benefits trust, which oversees the fund that pays for health insurance for UAW retirees from GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. Ashton was a member of the UAW International staff from 1986 to 2014.
Ashton's name emerged in November as being of interest to a federal investigation of corruption related to UAW training centers financed by GM, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler.
Ashton has not been accused of wrongdoing.
The investigation is examining is whether money meant to train autoworkers at all three companies was secretly funneled through charities to union officials and auto executives.
Criminal charges have been filed against four people, , including former FCA Vice President Alphons Iacobelli and Monica Morgan-Holiefield, the widow of UAW Vice President General Holiefield. The two and two others are accused of siphoning millions of dollars from a UAW training center and spending it on themselves. Two other defendants pleaded guilty in the case, including an FCA financial analyst and a former senior UAW official.
