BOSTON – Inquiring union members wanted to know: was it fast women or slow horses that led to one of their leader’s $800,000 embezzlement of union funds?

Richard Anzivino, then-finance director of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, was busted for embezzling nearly a million dollars from the union to feed his gambling habit in 2003.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

His is only one of many true stories about union leaders who took advantage of shabby financial oversight policies to bilk hard working rank-and-file members out of their money.

“I only had one question from my members: was it fast women or slow horses?” wrote Brockton teacher and local union president Joe O’Sullivan in the Boston Herald, regarding Anzivino’s arrest.

Anzivino originally admitted to stealing $200,000. But when presented with more evidence, he confessed more, the paper reported.

Despite his confession, he pleaded “not guilty” before facing reality and pleading guilty, according to the National Legal and Policy Center.