Financial services company to restore nearly $243,000 to 2 pension plans following US Labor Department investigations

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Financial services company Wall Street Capitol and its president, Richard Siskey, have agreed to restore $242,975.78 to two retirement profit sharing plans as part of a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Labor. The Charlotte-based company and its president allegedly violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The settlement agreement follows investigations by the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration into alleged violations of ERISA by Siskey and his company in their capacity as fiduciaries of profit sharing plans sponsored by Diversified Printing Techniques and J & T Utility Construction Inc., formerly known as Floyd King & Sons Inc.

Under the agreement, Siskey and his company will restore $152,612.44 to the J & T Utility Construction Inc. Profit Sharing Plan and $90,363.34 to the Diversified Printing Techniques Inc. Profit Sharing Plan. Payments owed to each plan by Siskey and his company may be reduced if other fiduciaries to the plans knowingly and voluntarily waive their rights to receive a portion of the payments. Individuals named as fiduciaries for J & T Utility Construction include Jerry King and Terry King. The individual named as fiduciary for Diversified Printing Techniques is Tony Chaney Sr. 

EBSA alleges that Siskey and Wall Street Capitol breached their fiduciary responsibilities when the plans issued loans to The Premier Fund, wholly owned and operated by Richard Siskey. EBSA contends the loans were high-risk promissory notes, and because the profit sharing plans were not considered accredited investors as defined by Premier’s Private Placement Memorandum, the plans were not qualified to issue the loans. The loans resulted in losses to the plans due to reductions in interest rates paid and improper calculation of interest. The plans also invested in Sharon Road Properties LLC, which EBSA alleges was a prohibited transaction. EBSA further alleges that the subsequent liquidation of the investment at a value determined without the use of an independent appraiser was imprudent.

If Siskey or his company violates the agreement, the Labor Department reserves the right to initiate legal action.

In separate consent judgments and orders filed with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina – Charlotte Division – Terry King, Jerry King, Richard German and J & T Utility Construction Inc. have agreed to restore losses to the J & T Utility Construction Inc. Profit Sharing Plan, if the losses are not otherwise restored by Wall Street Capitol and Richard Siskey.

Tony Chaney Sr. and Diversified Printing Techniques Inc. have agreed to a similar consent judgment covering losses incurred by Diversified Printing Techniques Inc. Profit Sharing Plan, if the losses are not otherwise restored by Wall Street Capitol and Richard Siskey.

Included in the consent judgments, defendants at both companies agree to be permanently barred from acting as fiduciaries to any employee benefit plan covered by ERISA. The consent judgments follow EBSA allegations that the defendants failed to discharge their duties solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of their plans.

“Employees in retirement plans expect a plan’s fiduciaries to safeguard their assets, and when this trust is violated, the fiduciaries must be held accountable for their actions,” said Isabel Colon, acting regional director for EBSA in Atlanta, Ga.

The settlement agreement and consent judgments were negotiated with the assistance of the department’s Office of the Solicitor. Employers and workers can reach EBSA’s Atlanta Regional Office at 404-302-3900 or toll-free at 866-444-3272 for help with problems relating to private sector retirement and health plans. For more information, see www.dol.gov/ebsa.

Solis v. Terry King
Civil Action File Number 3:11-cv-00204
Solis v. Tony Chaney Sr.
Civil Action File Number 3:11-cv-00205

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