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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.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

The court ordered Bertin Steel and trustees Bernard amd Samuel D’Ambrosi to make the restitution to the plan as repayment for delinquent loans made by the plan to Benefit Management Consultants, Inc. (BMCI) and its owner Nicholas Vukich and his wife Patricia Vukich.

Under the judgment, trustee Bernard D’Ambrosi (who also serves as president of Bertin Steel) is permanently barred from serving in a position of trust or providing services to any plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Trustee Samuel D’Ambrosi — who also is the company’s vice president — is permanently barred from serving plans of Bertin Steel and barred for 10 years from dealing with any plan governed by ERISA.

The defendants also were ordered to guarantee repayment of $103,626.34 to the plan, representing principal and interest on delinquent loans to Richmond Industries, Inc. as well as the repurchase of Richmond Industries stock owned by the plan for $223,061.10 by March 31, 1999.

The department sued the defendants on Dec. 2, 1997 for misusing plan assets to make improper loans and transfers to themselves and others, including BMCI and Richmond Industries.

The welfare plan provides health, death, dental and disability benefits to employees of Bertin Steel. At the end of 1996, the plan covered 103 participants and reported $1,345,313 in assets.

The judgment was entered on March 4 in federal district court in Cleveland, Ohio. The lawsuit resulted from an investigation by the Cincinnati Regional Office of the department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration into alleged violations of ERISA.

(Herman v. Bertin Steel Processing, Inc.)
Civil Action No. 4:97 CV 3139

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Contact Name: Gloria Della
202.219.8921
Joseph R. Menez
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