US Labor Department obtains consent judgment securing the restoration of over $90,000 to Ayer, Mass., SIMPLE IRA plan

Date of Action: November 1, 2013

Type of Action: Consent Judgment and Order

Name(s) of Defendant: Goldsmith, Prest & Ringwall, Inc., Calvin R. Goldsmith and Bruce D. Ringwall

Allegations: GPR sponsors the Goldsmith, Prest & Ringwall, Inc. Simple IRA Plan to provide retirement benefits for employees of GPR and their beneficiaries. GPR, Goldsmith and Ringwall are the plan’s fiduciaries, responsible for receiving and collecting all monies due to the plan, properly managing plan assets and collecting employer contributions due to the plan.

An investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration found that from 2009 to the present, the defendants failed to timely remit and remit any and all withheld employee contributions to the plan resulting in unremitted contributions totaling $71,855 plus lost opportunity costs. From 2008 to the present, the defendants failed to take appropriate measures to collect any and all employer contributions due to the plan resulting in uncollected employer contributions totaling $26,628 plus lost opportunity costs.

Resolution: The defendants signed a consent judgment to pay plan participants (excluding the defendants) the applicable recovery amount of $90,288.91, which includes lost opportunity costs.  The judgment also requires the defendants to represent that all payments due to the plan are current and up-to-date, refrain from future ERISA violations, provide plan participants with a copy of the consent judgment and provide proof of payment and a full accounting of the proceeds to the department.  The Honorable William G. Young of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts signed and entered the consent judgment on November 1, 2013

Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Docket Number: 1:13-cv-12761

U.S. Department of Labor materials are accessible at www.dol.gov.  The information above is available in large print, Braille, audio tape or disc from the COAST office upon request by calling (202) 693-7828 or TTY (202) 693-7755.