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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.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

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 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 21, 2008

U.S. Labor Department obtains court order requiring officers of New York and California textile companies to restore 401(k) assets

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

New York – Two officers of defunct New York City and Santa Monica, California-based textile companies American Fabrics Co. and Beverly Trimming Co. agreed to restore $111,260 to the companies’ 401(k) plan to resolve a Labor Department lawsuit alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

July 17, 2008

U.S. Labor Department sues to restore more than $3.4 million to pay unpaid health claims of Texas benefit fund

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Francisco — The U.S. Department of Labor has sued a purported employer association, a health fund trustee, and the fund’s consultant over alleged imprudent management of the Manufacturing and Industrial Workers Benefit Fund (MIWU) of Bryan, Texas. The defendants’ actions allegedly resulted in more than $3.4 million in unpaid health claims affecting participants in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Texas and other states.

July 16, 2008

U.S. Labor Department obtains appointment of independent fiduciary for abandoned 401(k) plan of Waterbury, Connecticut company

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

New Haven – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order appointing an independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of defunct VA Construction LLC of Waterbury, Connecticut.

July 15, 2008

U.S. Labor Department seeks to restore employee contributions owed to Salina, Kansas 401(k) and health plans

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

Salina, Kansas – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the trustees of the 401(k) and health plans of defunct B&W Electrical Contractors Inc. (formerly of Salina) for failure to forward $22,670.22 in employee contributions to the 401(k) plan and $7,584.82 in health care premiums to the health plan.

July 15, 2008

U.S. Labor Department protects 401(k) plan assets of former American Systems Consulting Inc. employees in Dublin, Ohio

Dublin, Ohio – A federal district court in Columbus has granted the U.S. Department of Labor a consent judgment to distribute more than $600,000 in 401(k) assets owed to former workers of American Systems Consulting Inc. of Dublin.

July 14, 2008

U.S. Department of Labor issues guidance on Schedule C reporting for 2009 Form 5500

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

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced guidance to help plan administrators and service providers comply with the new requirements for reporting service provider fee and compensation information applicable to Form 5500 Annual Returns/Reports filed for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009.

July 10, 2008

U.S. Labor Department recovers funds owed to Toledo-based Tana Corp. retirement savings plan

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

Toledo, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment restoring more than $25,000 owed to the retirement savings plan of Tana Corp. in Toledo as resolution of its lawsuit against the company and plan fiduciary Sharon Scherkoske.