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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.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

Under the judgment, Alan N. Kanter & Associates was appointed to manage and operate the plan. Money returned to the company’s 401(k) plan will be distributed to the accounts of all plan participants except defendant Dr. Surendra P. S. Anand, the president of of Applied Research.

In addition, Dr. Anand and defendant Manjit K. Anand, who resigned as trustees of the 401(k) plan, are permanently barred from serving in positions of trust to any plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The defendants also were ordered to pay $20,156 in civil penalties for violating the prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA. The plan received an additional $505,000 from Space Applications Corp. as part of Space’s 1997 purchase of Applied Research’s assets after Applied Research filed for bankruptcy.

The judgment resolves a lawsuit alleging that the Anands commingled employee contributions with the general assets of Applied Research Corp., used plan money to pay general operating expenses, and failed to submit mandatory matching employer contributions from 1992 to 1996.

The case resulted from an investigation by the Washington, D.C. Office of the department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration into alleged violations of ERISA. The judgment was entered in federal district court in Baltimore.

(Herman v. Anand)
Civil Action No. MJG 98-983

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Contact Name: GLORIA DELLA
Phone Number: (202) 219-8921