Executive of Dayton tool and die company sentenced for embezzlement of employee pension funds

DAYTON, Ohio – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration announced that Gary L. Merritt, vice president of Bemcore Inc. of Dayton, has been sentenced by a federal district court in Ohio to five years’ probation and was ordered to restore $186,070 to his victims.

The sentencing follows a guilty plea entered on Aug. 26 by Merritt to a one-count indictment of embezzlement from the company’s 401(k) retirement plan. Merritt embezzled the 401(k) assets between Jan. 22, 2009, and May 12, 2010, while serving as the trustee of the Bemcore Inc. Employee Incentive Plan. He was charged with converting the assets of the 401(k) plan to his own use and benefit.

“The defendant’s guilty plea affirms our resolve to vigorously enforce the law to ensure that those who steal from contributory employee benefit plans are brought to justice,” said Paul Baumann, regional director of EBSA’s Cincinnati Regional Office in Ohio. “We will aggressively investigate plan theft under the Contributory Plans Criminal Project, which targets those who prey on participants and beneficiaries of these plans.”

This case was investigated by EBSA’s Cincinnati Regional Office and was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Dayton.

U.S. v. Merritt
Criminal Number 3:10CR080

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