Chicago Court Orders Trustee to Distribute 401(k) Assets of Primary Resources, Inc.

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Chicago, Illinois - A federal district court in Chicago has ordered computer-consulting firm Primary Resources, Inc., and the trustee of the company’s Primesave 401 (k) plan to terminate the plan and distribute its assets to participants. The company was located in Oak Brook Terrace, Illinois.

The consent order and judgment, signed December 14, 2001, also requires Laurence D. Flora, the corporate owner and plan trustee, to assist the plan custodian with the orderly distribution of the plan’s assets. As of January 16, 2001, the plan had six participants and assets of $100,742.

The judgment resolves a suit filed in September against the defendants for abandonment of the plan after the company ceased operations in January 1999. The state of Illinois involuntarily dissolved the company in March 1999.

Plans become orphan plans when they are abandoned by all 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.

“Our goal is to assure that consumers know the department is only a phone call away to help protect benefits promised by employers,” said Kenneth Bazar, director of the Chicago Regional Office of the department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration, which investigated these cases."

Employers and workers can reach the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration at 312.353.0900 for help with problems relating to private sector pension and health plans.

(Chao v. Primary Resources, Inc.
Civil Action No. 01-C-6896)

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.