New Jersey Court Appoints Independent Fiduciary to Manage Abandoned Washington, DC Pension Plan

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - On May 14, 2001, a federal court in New Jersey appointed an independent fiduciary to manage and terminate the abandoned pension plan of the International Brotherhood of Law Enforcement and Security Officers which covered security guards at Howard University in Washington, DC.

Under the court order, the independent fiduciary will have full authority to collect assets owed to the plan, pay benefits to participants, pay creditors and terminate the plan.

The International Brotherhood of Law Enforcement and Security Officers (IBLESO) in New York City was a labor union representing security guards until it ceased operations in 1987. The plan covered up to 65 participants and had $235,944.50 in assets in a general account with Equitable Life Assurance Society as of March 2000.

The pension plan has been orphaned since 1987 after the criminal conviction of trustees Ivan Forde and Naomi Garnett that year. As a result of the conviction, the former trustees were barred from serving as fiduciaries to any plan governed by private employee benefit law. Replacement trustees were never appointed to manage and operate the pension plan. The former trustees are now deceased.

Plans become orphan plans when they are abandoned by all plan fiduciaries designated to manage and operate them and their assets, preventing participants and beneficiaries from receiving pension distributions and making inquiries about their benefits.

The Labor Department's lawsuit, filed simultaneously with the court order on May 15, alleges that IBLESO violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by leaving the plan without a trustee, failing to appoint successor trustees to administer the plan, and failing to terminate the plan and distribute its assets to participants.

The lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Newark, New Jersey. The court actions resulted from an investigation conducted by the Washington, DC district office of the Department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration.

“This action reaffirms our commitment to protect the hard-earned benefits promised by employers,” said Mabel Capolongo, director of PWBA’s Philadelphia Regional Office. “Employers and workers can reach us at 301.713.2000 for help with any problems relating to private-sector pension and health plans.”

(Chao v. The Int'l Brotherhood of Law Enforcement and Security Officers Pension Plan
Civil Action No.01-CIV-2306)

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