CPA Appointed to Manage Retirement Accounts of Defunct Illinois Company

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Chicago, Illinois - The U. S. Department of Labor obtained a court judgment September 7, 2001, appointing an independent counsel to administer and distribute assets of the retirement plan of now-defunct Humesco, Inc., formerly of Oak Brook, Illinois. The judgment appoints M. Larry Lefoldt, CPA, to administer the plan, disburse assets to eligible participants and terminate it.

The judgment also bars defendant Robert G. Hershenhorn from interfering with the administration of the plan or payment of benefits to the participants. The company was a human resource/employee leasing company which went out of business in 1998.

The department sued Hershenhorn for alleged failure to authorize distributions and/or rollovers to the various plan participants from the plan trust account since July of 1998 and failure to formally terminate the plan. The lawsuit also alleged the company as the plan administrator did not administer, liquidate or distribute the plan’s assets, thereby resulting in an orphan plan.

Plans become orphan plans when they are abandoned by plan fiduciaries designated to manage and operate the plans and their assets. As a result, participants and beneficiaries are unable to receive pension distributions and to make inquiries about their benefits.

The plan had 15 participants with vested account balances totaling $45,373.36 as of March 31, 2001. When the company was involuntarily dissolved by the State of Illinois on June 30, 1998, certain participants and beneficiaries were unable to obtain distributions from their individual account balances.

The court action resulted from investigation conducted by the Chicago Regional Office of the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) into alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

(Chao v. Humesco, Inc.
Civil Action No. CV 01C2925)

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.