U.S. Labor Department Restores $75,000 to Oakland Engineering Firm’s 401(k) Plan

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

San Francisco, California - Two former executives of Manna Consultants, an Oakland, California-based corporation, have agreed to restore $75,000 in employee assets to the company’s 401(k) plan. The judgment resolves a 2004 lawsuit filed by the U.S. Labor Department which sought $57,451 plus interest for 20 former employees who were plan participants.

Anh-Tuan Le of Fountain Valley, California, president and majority shareholder of the company, agreed that the company will pay $75,000 to the plan. Le and Katherine L. Rice of Lakehead, California, a former trustee of the plan, are permanently barred from acting as fiduciaries or service providers of employee benefit plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Le and Rice allegedly commingled employees’ contributions with the general corporate account over a period of several years when the company had insufficient funds to meet other financial obligations. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

“This sends a strong message to those responsible for employee benefit plans that they cannot misuse their employees’ funds, and that the Labor Department will pursue every avenue to have employee contributions restored to their plans,” said Francis Clisham, regional director of the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in San Francisco, which investigated the case.

Manna Consultants, which had offices in Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose, provided engineering planning and consulting services to Bay Area transportation companies such as BART and Caltrain before it ceased operating in 2004.

Employers with similar problems who are not yet the subject of an investigation by EBSA may be eligible to participate in the department’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP). Participation in the program requires employers to reimburse plans and participants but allows them to avoid EBSA enforcement actions and civil penalties as well as any applicable excise taxes. For more information about the VFCP, see www.dol.gov/ebsa.

Employers and workers with questions or concerns regarding their private-sector pension and health plans can contact the EBSA regional office in San Francisco at 415.975.4600 or EBSA’s toll free number, 1.866.444.EBSA (3272). Information is also available from the agency’s web site at www.dol.gov/ebsa.

(Chao v. Le)
Civil Action No. C 04-05438-FMS

U.S. Department of Labor news releases are accessible on the Department's Newsroom page. The information in this news release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office. Please specify which news release when placing your request at 202.693.7765 or TTY 202.693.7755. The U.S. Department of Labor is committed to providing America's employers and employees with easy access to understandable information on how to comply with its laws and regulations. For more information, please visit the Department's Compliance Assistance page.

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

Contact Name: Deanne Amaden
Phone Number: 415.975.4741