US Labor Department obtains judgment to restore nearly $20K to 401(k) plan of contractor based in Jessup, Maryland

Date of Action: May 31, 2016

Name(s) of Defendants:  Brian Hicks, Trojan Horse LTD; Capitol Expressways Inc.; Glen Burnie Hauling Inc.; BDH Logistics LLC; and Trojan Horse LTD 401(k) plan.

Allegations: Based on an investigation conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Secretary of Labor filed a complaint alleging:

Beginning in June 2011, the defendants failed to remit $18,600 in loan repayments and employee contributions to the Trojan Horse LTD 401(k) plan. Additionally, Hicks and Trojan Horse LTD failed to terminate the plan and distribute its assets in accordance with the plan documents. 

Hicks is the owner and president of Trojan Horse LTD and its related entities Capitol Expressways Inc., Glen Burnie Hauling Inc., and BDH Logistics LLC. Based in Jessup, Maryland, all four of the related companies owned by Hicks ceased doing business and terminated their employees. 

Resolution:  The court ordered all defendants to pay $18,588.34 to the plan for unremitted loan repayments and employee contributions, as well as an additional $1,572.40 in monetary damages.  Hicks and the defendant companies were also removed as fiduciaries of the plan and permanently barred from serving as a fiduciary, trustee, agent, representative or service provider to a plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.  Finally, the court ordered that Metro Benefits be appointed as an independent fiduciary in order to terminate the plan and make distributions of its assets to participants and beneficiaries, and that the defendants reimburse the plan for the costs of the independent fiduciary. 

Court: United States District Court for the District of Maryland

Docket Number: 1:15-cv-01097-ELH