April 23, 1999

LABOR DEPARTMENT SUES OHIO EXECUTIVE OVER MISUSE OF 401(K) CONTRIBUTIONS

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the owner of Columbus, Ohio-based TennOhio Transportation Co. for failing to deposit employee contributions into investment accounts of the company's 401(k) plan and keeping plan money in accounts of TennOhio and related companies.

April 16, 1999

ERISA ADVISORY COUNCIL’S WORKING GROUPS TO TAKE TESTIMONY ON 1999 STUDY ISSUES

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The Secretary of Labor’s Advisory Committee on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans will hold meetings for its three working groups on May 5 and 6. All sessions will be held at the Department of Labor’s Frances Perkins Building at 200 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC, in Room N3437A-B.

April 8, 1999

ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON NEGOTIATED RULEMAKING TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETINGS

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The U. S. Department of Labor’s ERISA Section 3(40) Negotiated Rulemaking Advisory Committee will hold public meetings on April 20 and 21 to continue its discussion of the process and criteria to be used in developing a proposed rule on whether an employee benefit plan is established or maintained under a collective bargaining agreement.

April 7, 1999

COURT APPOINTS INDEPENDENT TRUSTEE TO OPERATE FLORIDA 401(K) PLAN

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

A Federal District Court in Miami, Fla. has appointed an independent trustee to manage and terminate the 401(k) plan of Hollywood, Fla.-based Carolina Fitness Equipment, Inc. under a settlement agreement obtained by the U. S. Department of Labor.

April 1, 1999

Dallas Businessman Sentenced For Misappropriating Pension Assets

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

A Texas state court today ordered the owner of Dallas-based Programmed for Success to pay $4,044.30 in restitution, fined him $750 and sentenced him to12 months of probation for misappropriating pension contributions owed to the company’s retirement plan.

March 31, 1999

TRUSTEES OF HOWARD BEACH, NEW YORK TEAMSTERS UNION PENSION AND BENEFIT PLANS AND EMPLOYER SETTLE LABOR DEPARTMENT LAWSUIT OVER IMPROPER PAYMENT OF EXPENSES

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

The U. S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent order requiring the trustees of the pension, annuity, education and welfare funds of Local 363 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters located in Howard Beach, N.Y., and TAP Electrical Contracting Service, Inc., a contributing employer to the plans, to pay more than $1.4 million to the funds as restitution for improper reimbursements made to contributing employers for legal expenses and back wages.

March 29, 1999

OWNERS OF HOUSTON COMPANY SUED OVER MISUSE OF PROFIT SHARING PLAN ASSETS

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

Superior Engine Rebuilding Co. of Houston and its owners have been sued by the U.S. Department of Labor for withdrawing more than $344,000 from the company’s profit sharing plan for use by themselves and to pay creditors of the company.

The Superior Engine Rebuilding Co. was formed in Houston to rebuild motor vehicular engines. The company’s profit sharing plan covered as many as 29 participants and had assets of $880,367 as of Jan. 31, 1992.

March 15, 1999

Labor Department Sues Sutersville Lumber Company Pension Plan Officials And Investment Manager

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

The U.S. Department of Labor today filed a lawsuit against trustees of two pension plans sponsored by the Sutersville Lumber Company for violating federal pension law by transferring over $500,000 in profit sharing plan assets to the company to pay off a bank loan, which is guaranteed, to its employee stock ownership plan (ESOP).

March 15, 1999

Labor Department Reaches Court Settlement With Gmp Associates, President In Pension Case

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

March 5, 1999

LABOR DEPARTMENT SETTLES LAWSUIT WITH OHIO CORPORATION AND PLAN TRUSTEES

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

The U. S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring Bertin Steel Processing, Inc. of Wickliffe, Ohio and trustees of its welfare plan to pay $556,842 as restitution for improper loans made by the plan and appointing an independent entity to manage the plan.

March 3, 1999

HHS SECRETARY SHALALA AND DOL SECRETARY HERMAN ANNOUNCE MEDICAL CHILD SUPPORT WORKING GROUP TO IMPROVE HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE OF CHILDREN

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

Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala and Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman today announced formation of the Medical Child Support Group to study and provide recommendations on how to improve the enforcement of medical support obligations for children.

The working group was established by the Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998.

March 2, 1999

PWBA Press Release: Iowa Insurance Company to Refund More than $6 Million [03/02/99]

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

For more information call: (202) 219-8921

An Iowa based insurance company, formerly Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Iowa and South Dakota, will pay $6.875 million to employers and their workers who were denied discounts they should have received for health services.

February 17, 1999

PENSION AGENCY HOSTS NATIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE DAY

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

Regional offices of the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) will host a nationwide "Employee Benefits Customer Service Day" on a Saturday, March 20, 1999 between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

February 8, 1999

LABOR SECRETARY NAMES CHAIRS FOR ERISA ADVISORY COUNCIL

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

Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman today named Barbara A. Uberti of Wilmington, Del. as chair of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans and Dr. Thomas J. Mackell, Jr. of Santa Fe, N.M. and New York City as its vice chair.

February 2, 1999

KENTUCKY COUPLE INDICTED FOR EMBEZZLING PENSION ASSETS

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

A federal grand jury has indicted a Lexington, Ky. couple for embezzling approximately $7,000 from their company’s profit sharing plan, according to the U. S. Department of Labor.

February 1, 1999

LABOR DEPARTMENT SETTLES LAWSUIT WITH FORMER TRUSTEES OF MARYLAND 401(K) PLAN

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

The U. S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment appointing an independent trustee to manage the 401(k) plan of Applied Research Corp. of Landover, Md., and requiring two of the company’s former owners to repay $120,940 in restitution and civil penalties for failing to remit employee and employer contributions owed to the plan.

January 28, 1999

Labor Department Proposes Rule On Electronic Communications And Recordkeeping By Employee Benefit Plans

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

The U.S. Department of Labor today issued proposed regulations addressing electronic communications of certain information by employee benefit plans and minimum standards for maintenance and retention of employee benefit records in electronic form.

January 28, 1999

LABOR DEPARTMENT FILLS PENSION POST OF DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY

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

Leslie B. Kramerich has been appointed to the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy of the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) by Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman. Kramerich also is delegated the duties of PWBA’s Assistant Secretary until a permanent candidate is appointed to fill the post.

January 28, 1999

Former Fresno Pension Administrator Pleads Guilty To Embezzlement

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

San Francisco - Charles V. Mugrdechian, Jr., pled guilty January 25, 1999, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Fresno, to three counts of embezzlement from the Mid-Valley Employers Trust Group Insurance Trust (also known as Key Advantage Trust), a trust that was set up to provide medical insurance to the employee welfare benefit plans of small employers, the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.