August 22, 2008

U.S. Department of Labor sues defunct West Chester, Pennsylvania company to protect participants of abandoned retirement plan

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

West Chester Pennsylvania The U.S. Department of Labor has filed suit to have an independent fiduciary appointed to oversee the 401(k) plan of Five Star Industrial Services Inc., a defunct company located in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

August 21, 2008

U.S. Labor Department proposes rules on investment advice exemption for 401(k) plans and IRAs

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced publication of two proposed rules under the Pension Protection Act (PPA) to make investment advice more accessible for millions of Americans in 401(k) type plans and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). The proposed regulation and class exemption are to be published in the August 22, 2008 Federal Register.

August 19, 2008

U.S. Department of Labor’s ERISA Advisory Council sets September 2008 meetings

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Washington – The Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans (also known as the ERISA Advisory Council) and its three working groups will meet September 9-11 at the U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Room S-3215 A-B in Washington, D.C.

August 12, 2008

U.S. Labor Department sues to protect assets of Long Beach retirement plan for medical workers

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Francisco – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a Long Beach pediatrician and his professional corporation for allegedly misusing retirement plan assets and refusing to distribute account balances to terminated participants.

August 11, 2008

U.S. Labor Department sues former executive of Florida mortuary and transportation company to recover 401(k) funds

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Timothy Steinkamp, a corporate officer of defunct Broward Removal Services and Broward Trade Services Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) when he failed to remit employee contributions owed to the company’s 401(k) plan.

August 8, 2008

U.S. Labor Department obtains default judgment against Cincinnati-based restaurant group and trustee of 401(k) savings plans

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Cincinnati – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment requiring Cincinnati-based Queen City Restaurant Group and its 401(k) trustee, Vincent Bryant, to pay $46,718 to the company’s 401(k) savings plans as restitution for failing to remit employee contributions and loan repayments owed to the plans.

August 5, 2008

U.S. Labor Department sues to appoint independent fiduciary for 401(k) plan abandoned by Long Island, New York company

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

New York – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to obtain appointment of an independent fiduciary to oversee the abandoned 401(k) plan of defunct Freedom Security Systems Inc. of New Hyde Park, New York.

August 5, 2008

U.S. Labor Department obtains judgment of nearly $1.8 million against New York company

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Huntington, New York – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment requiring Huntington, New York-based Mutual Association Administrators (MAA) to restore nearly $1.8 million to the Mutual Employees Benefit Trust (MEBT) and permanently barring the firm from providing service to plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in the future. The judgment resolves a lawsuit filed by the department.

August 5, 2008

U.S. Labor Department obtains court appointed independent fiduciary for 401(k) plan abandoned by Brooklyn, New York medical practice

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

New York – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order appointing an independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of the former Storch Sheinbrot & Singer Physicians PC of Brooklyn, New York.

August 5, 2008

U.S. Labor Department sues head of defunct Phoenix company over misuse of retirement fund

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Francisco – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the former president and chief executive officer of a defunct Phoenix company for allegedly misusing assets of the CTC Engineering money purchase plan of Scottsdale, Arizona, to pay personal and corporate expenses.

August 4, 2008

Connecticut pension trustees sued by U.S. Labor Department for misuse of plan funds

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Hartford, Connecticut – Trustees of the James T. Farrell III Money Purchase Pension Plan in Hartford misused more than $960,000 in plan assets to pay their personal expenses and operating expenses of Farrell Associates in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), according to a lawsuit filed by the U. S. Department of Labor.

August 1, 2008

U.S. Labor Department seeks to recover employee contributions for participants of Austin, Texas, 401(k) plan

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Austin, Texas – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued fiduciaries of the 401(k) plan for employees of the Brown Schools Inc., based in Austin, for failure to forward employee contributions to the company’s 401(k) plan and misusing those assets to pay the operating expenses of the school.

July 31, 2008

U.S. Labor Department obtains judgment restoring nearly $71,000 in assets to Puerto Rican union employee benefit plan

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Juan, Puerto Rico – The union Sindicato de los Empleados de Equipo Pesado, Construcción y Ramas Anexas de Puerto Rico Inc. has agreed to pay $70,986.46 in restitution to the Plan de Bienestar de los Empleados de Equipo Pesado Construcción Ramas Anexas de Puerto Rico Inc. under a consent judgment obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor.

July 30, 2008

U.S. Department of Labor obtains judgment appointing independent fiduciary for Versailles, Kentucky hospital’s retirement and thrift plan

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Cincinnati – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment against Woodford Memorial Hospital Inc. of Versailles, Kentucky, removing the hospital as fiduciary of its retirement and thrift plan, and appointing an independent fiduciary to oversee the collection, management and liquidation of assets for the benefit of the plan’s participants.

July 29, 2008

U.S. Labor Department and SEC to share information protecting retirement and investments of American workers

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

WASHINGTON — Elaine L. Chao, U.S. secretary of labor, and Christopher Cox, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), today agreed to make permanent their agencies' longstanding relationship of sharing information on retirement and investments to protect the $5.8 trillion in retirement assets of American workers, retirees and their families held in employee benefit plans by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

July 24, 2008

U.S. Labor Department obtains order restoring $125,000 in pension assets to employees of defunct Phoenix company

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Francisco – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in which Phoenix-based Hyacinth Corp. and its president agreed to restore $125,000 owed to participants of the corporation’s money purchase plan.

July 22, 2008

U.S. Labor Department to sponsor free workshops in Seattle on federal pension and health laws

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Seattle – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will hold free, half-day workshops July 29 in Seattle to help employers, the employee benefit community and others better comply with the federal pension law.

The workshops will be held at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. PDT in the Henry Jackson Federal Building, 915 Second Avenue in the Evergreen Room.

July 22, 2008

U.S. Labor Department sues to protect employee retirement assets of Reno, Nevada, workers

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Francisco – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued North Valley Precision Products of Reno, Nevada, for misusing 401(k) plan assets that resulted in 12 former employees being unable to access their retirement plan accounts.

July 22, 2008

U.S. Labor Department proposes regulations to improve disclosure of fees and expenses to workers with 401(k)–type benefit plans

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a proposed rule that will make it easier for an estimated 65 million participants covered by 401(k)-type plans to make informed retirement savings decisions. The proposal would provide workers with useful summary information, including fee and expense information, for investment options available under their plans.