US Labor Department sues Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, employee benefit plan service provider for mismanaging multiple 401(k) plans

Date of Action: Aug. 15, 2016

Type of Action: Complaint

Name(s) of Defendants: A. Kenneth Belanger
Jo-Ann Belanger
Belanger and Co.  Inc.

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

Defendants A. Kenneth Belanger, Jo-Ann Belanger, and Belanger and Co. Inc. violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by transferring certain plan assets to the company and failing to fully disclose fees,  timely remit assets to certain plans, fully and timely terminate some plans and process some plan distributions, destroying documents, and making errors in the administration of some plans. The company serves as an administrator to employee benefit plans sponsored by small businesses

Relief: The complaint seeks restoration of all plan losses, lost earnings, and disgorgement to the plans of all unjust enrichment received by the defendants, and removal of the defendants as fiduciaries and service providers to any ERISA-covered employee benefit plan that they serve as fiduciaries and service providers. Additionally, it seeks an injunction permanently preventing the defendants from exercising custody, control, or decision making authority with respect to the assets of any employee benefit plan covered by ERISA, preventing the defendants from acting directly or indirectly as a service provider for any employee benefit plan subject to ERISA. It also seeks to bar the defendants from engaging in any future violations of ERISA.

Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Docket Number: 2:16-cv-04427-JCJ