Orlando, Florida – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued Bichler and Kelly P.A. and two of its attorneys to protect the assets of the law firm’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account (SIMPLE IRA).

New York – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order in the form of a default judgment appointing Jacqueline M. Carmichael as the independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of defunct Bonnie Optical Inc. of Rochester, New York.

Washington - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today released Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2009-02 that provides guidance to field investigators regarding certain Form 5500 requirements dealing with tax-sheltered annuity programs.

Herndon, Virginia – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia removing Answers Inc. and 401(k) trustee Cynthia Chambliss as fiduciaries of the company’s 401(k) profit-sharing plan and appointing JM Pension Advisory Inc. as the independent plan fiduciary. Answers Inc. is a defunct company formerly located in Herndon, Va., that operated under the names Transit Services LLC and Answer Transit Services Corp.

Cookeville, Tennessee – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and settlement agreement appointing an independent fiduciary to manage and distribute the retirement assets of defunct Renewable Resources Inc. of Cookeville.

The order, issued by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, appoints Larry Lefoldt as the independent fiduciary for the purpose of terminating the plan and distributing its assets in accordance with plan provisions.

Denver — The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado appointing an independent fiduciary to oversee the abandoned 401(k) plan of the defunct Denver Window Corp., formerly of Commerce City, Colorado.

Pella, Iowa - The U.S. Department of Labor has sued the owner of Van Elsen Consulting Inc. in Pella, Iowa, for allegedly retaining employee contributions owed to the company’s SIMPLE IRA Retirement Plan to pay the operating expenses of the company. Van Elsen Consulting Inc. was an actuarial consulting firm that ceased operations on December 31, 2006.

Washington – The Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans (also known as the ERISA Advisory Council) will meet July 21-23, 2009 in Washington, D.C., at the U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, Room N-3437A-B.

Cincinnati – A free health law compliance assistance seminar for employers, plan fiduciaries and plan services providers, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Ohio Department of Insurance, will take place July 15 and 16 at the Kingsgate Marriott Conference Hotel at the University of Cincinnati, 151 Goodman Drive.

Kansas City — A former employee of a Kansas City, Mo., gaming casino was sentenced to one year in federal prison and three years of supervised probation after completion of her prison term. Dana Wachter also was ordered to make approximately $38,000 in restitution stolen from a co-worker.

The sentencing was based on a criminal investigation by the U. S. Department of Labor’s Regional Office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) in Kansas City, Missouri and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

NEW YORK – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained two federal court orders appointing the same independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned profit-sharing plans of defunct H&M Tool & Machine Co. Inc. and Valmar Industrial Corp., both formerly located in the Binghamton, New York, area.

Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has obtained a consent judgment and settlement agreement requiring restoration of more than $10,000 to the pension plan of defunct Professional Employee Leasing Inc. of Dadeville, Alabama.

Washington - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today made available the archived webcast of the June 18, 2009 hearing joint hearing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The hearing received testimony from 36 witnesses on issues relating to target date funds and other similar investment options.

San Francisco – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will hold a free workshop July 8 at the Airtel Plaza Hotel in Van Nuys, California, to help employers and health and pension plan administrators better understand and comply with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the federal law that governs private sector pension and health benefit plans for employees.

Tampa, Florida – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has sued Blanchette Construction and its owners to restore assets to the former company’s 401(k) plan.

Mondsview, Minnesota – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a judgment in federal district court in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that orders the appointment of an independent fiduciary to terminate the 401(k) plan of a former Mondsview trucking company and to distribute the plan’s assets to participants.

The court action resolves a lawsuit filed by the Labor Department against Hyman Freightways Inc., which ceased operation in October 1997, and will lead to the distribution of $164,251 in plan assets to 14 participants.

Atlanta – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will sponsor “Getting It Right – Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities,” a free compliance assistance seminar in Atlanta on July 9 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, 1000 Peachtree Street NE.

Washington — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) jointly will hold a public hearing on June 18 to hear testimony on the investment of 401(k) and other retirement plans in target date funds. The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. EDT in the department’s auditorium, 200 Constitution Ave. N.W. in Washington.

Charlotte, North Carolina – The U.S. Department of Labor will sponsor free workshops to assist employers and service providers in understanding and complying with federal regulations regarding employee pension and health benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

Representatives from the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will conduct the seminars at the Hilton Charlotte Executive Park, 5624 Westpark Drive in Charlotte, on June 17 and 18.

San Francisco – The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into settlement agreements with Aloha Airlines Inc., Bank of Hawaii and First Hawaiian Bank, which agreed to pay $9,545,454 to the airline’s three pension plans for losses the plans suffered on investments in stock of the airline’s holding company. Both Aloha and its holding company are bankrupt. The money will be paid to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., the trustee of the plans.