Sam Browarnik was a career criminal and also an official of "shadow union" Local 26 in Brooklyn. In 1969 he refused to answer questions put to him by a New York State Investigation Commission investigating organized crime in New York. With an extensive police record, Browarnik was part of an auto theft ring in the 1940s. Damning testimony before the SIC was given by two Brooklyn restaurateurs who were identified simply as Mr. B. and Mr. C. Both men paid union dues to Local 26, which was supposedly based on Broad Street. They soon learned that their employees had derived no benefits from union membership.