November 23, 2018

Operators of South Florida Urinalysis Lab Sentenced to Prison and Ordered to Pay More Than $9.6 Million in Restitution for Healthcare Fraud

MIAMI, FL – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has sentenced the chief executive officer and the chief operating officer of Smart Lab LLC to prison and ordered them and the company to pay more than $9.6 million in restitution after a federal investigation found that they had defrauded healthcare benefit programs.

November 20, 2018

Federal Court Orders Cleveland Business Owner to Pay Restitution, Serve 24 Months in Prison for Fraud and Theft of Employee Benefit Plan

CLEVELAND, OH – As a result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio has sentenced business executive C. David Snyder of Cleveland, Ohio, to serve 24 months of imprisonment, followed by an additional three years of supervised release, and to make more than $781,000 in restitution, following a federal investigation and prosecution leading to conviction on charges of embezzlement and tax fraud.

November 13, 2018

U.S. Department of Labor Releases Advance Copies of Form 5500 Annual Return/Report for 2018

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) today released advance informational copies of the 2018 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and related instructions. The "Changes to Note" section of the 2018 instructions highlights important modifications to the Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF, and their schedules and instructions. Modifications are as follows:

November 7, 2018

U.S. Department of Labor Announces Proposal Related to Retirement Asset Auto Portability

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today invited public comment on a proposed exemption related to the consolidation of small retirement savings accounts in 401(k) plans and IRAs when workers change jobs. The Department welcomes innovation in the area of retirement asset portability, and encourages additional proposals.

November 2, 2018

Federal Court Orders Defunct Las Vegas Airline to Pay Former Employees $219,716 to Restore Health Plan Losses

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada has approved a consent judgment between the U.S. Department of Labor and Vision Airlines Inc. that requires the now-defunct company to pay $219,716 to former employees for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in connection with their health plan. Vision Airlines Inc.; Vision Airlines Inc. Health and Welfare Plan; and fiduciaries William Acor and Shelley Lynne have also been assessed a civil penalty of approximately $44,000.

October 26, 2018

U.S. Department of Labor Announces Guidance and Relief For Employee Benefit Plans Impacted by Recent Hurricanes

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor has published employee benefit plan compliance guidance and relief for victims of Hurricanes Florence and Michael.

The Department recognizes that plan fiduciaries, employers, labor organizations, service providers, and participants and beneficiaries may encounter issues complying with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) over the next few months as the consequences of Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael unfold.

October 24, 2018

U.S. Department of Labor Provides Compliance Assistance Resources To Secure Employee Benefits

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has developed compliance assistance resources to help protect employee benefits. EBSA's goal is to help workers by restoring plan assets and securing the payment of promised benefits, and to help employee benefit officials understand the law. These tools give employee benefit plans the ability to self-correct violations, and further the goals of the Department's recently announced Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI) to encourage and facilitate compliance.

October 23, 2018

U.S. Departments of the Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Labor Announce Proposal to Expand Access to Quality, Affordable Health Coverage

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Departments of the Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Labor today issued a proposed regulation that expands the usability of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). HRAs are designed to give working Americans and their families greater control over their healthcare by providing an additional way for employers to finance quality, affordable health insurance.

October 22, 2018

U.S. Department of Labor Announces Proposal to Help Small Businesses Strengthen Retirement Security for Millions of American Workers

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to help small businesses strengthen retirement security in America. 

The proposed rule would make it easier for small businesses to offer retirement savings plans to their workers through Association Retirement Plans, which would allow small businesses to band together to offer 401(k) plans to their employees.   

October 19, 2018

U.S. Department of Labor Obtains Consent Order and Judgment To Distribute Assets to Participants in Chicago Hospital Retirement Plan

CHICAGO, IL – The U.S. Department of Labor obtained a consent order and judgment requiring the appointment of an independent fiduciary to the Sacred Heart Hospital Profit Sharing 401(k) Plan. The independent fiduciary will manage and distribute assets of the Chicago-based retirement plan to its nine participants.

October 19, 2018

Federal Court Orders Illinois Pension Plan to Restore $419,758 Following U.S. Department of Labor Investigation

CHICAGO, IL – The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into an agreement with the fiduciaries of the Neuroscience Center LLC Defined Benefit Pension Plan to restore $419,758 to the Deerfield, Illinois-based retirement plan. The agreed-upon restoration is part of a consent judgment approved by the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois.

October 17, 2018

Federal Court Appoints Successor Fiduciary to Oversee Distribution Of $46,371 to Participants of Abandoned Profit Sharing Plan

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina has appointed AMI Benefit Plan Administrators Inc. as the successor fiduciary for the James D. Blankenbeckler, DDS Profit Sharing Plan after the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) found violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

October 4, 2018

U.S. Department of Labor Seeks to Amend Complaint to Protect Participants And Beneficiaries of Failing Multiple Employer Welfare Plan

CHICAGO, IL – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a motion to amend its complaint requesting that the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, include additional defendants and claims in its action seeking to pay more than $50 million in unpaid participant health benefit claims in the AEU Holdings LLC Employee Benefit Plan.

October 4, 2018

U.S. Department of Labor Litigation Results in Atlanta Trust Company Paying $4.5 Million in Restitution to Employee Stock Ownership Plan

RALEIGH, NC – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina has signed a consent judgment approving a settlement between the U.S. Department of Labor and Reliance Trust Co. Inc. involving the Tobacco Rag Processors Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The consent judgment requires Reliance Trust Co. Inc. – an Atlanta, Georgia, company – to pay $4,545,454 back to the plan within 30 days. Once the payment is made, the Department will assess a civil penalty of $454,545 against Reliance Trust Co. Inc.   

October 3, 2018

Compliance Assistance for Association Health Plans Now Available at Employer.gov

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor has added compliance assistance materials on Association Health Plans (AHPs) to its new Employer.gov website that will help job creators and plan sponsors understand their Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) obligations when setting up and managing AHPs.

September 17, 2018

Federal Court Orders Maryland Business Owner to Pay $354,175 in Restitution, Serve Prison Term for Theft from Employee Benefit Plan

GREENBELT, MD – The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Southern Division, has sentenced a Maryland business owner to one year and one day of imprisonment, and $354,175 in restitution for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Nathan G. Williams pleaded guilty to one count of theft or embezzlement from his company's employee benefit plan in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 664.

August 10, 2018

U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Court Ordered Restitution of $491,890 After 28 Union Members Pleaded Guilty to Filing False Claims

HAMMOND, IN – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Luka Kljajic - a member of the Indiana/Kentucky/Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters (IKORCC) - appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon in Indiana and pleaded guilty to embezzlement from the union’s healthcare fund. Kljajic is the 28th member of the IKORCC charged in federal court for submitting false claims to the union’s healthcare fund. To date, the court has ordered $491,890 in restitution to the IKORCC Welfare Fund.

August 7, 2018

Federal Court Orders Kansas City Area Business Owner to Pay $4.3 Million in Restitution, Serve Prison Term for Fraud and Theft of Employee Benefit Plan

KANSAS CITY, KS – The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas has sentenced Leavenworth, Kansas, business owner Brenda Wood to serve 50 months of imprisonment followed by an additional five years of supervised release, and to make more than $4.3 million in restitution for bank fraud and violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Wood previously pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud and one count of theft from an employee benefit plan.

August 1, 2018

U.S. Department of Labor Invites Nominations for ERISA Advisory Council

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced that it is accepting nominations to serve on the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, known as the ERISA Advisory Council. The terms of five Council members expire on Dec. 31, 2018.

July 10, 2018

Federal Court Sentences Brentwood, Tennessee, Resident to 66 Months in Prison after U.S. Department of Labor Investigators Uncover Health Insurance Scam

NASHVILLE, TN – After a U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) investigation, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville has sentenced Timothy Wayne Thomas of Brentwood, Tennessee, to serve 66 months in prison for his criminal conduct in marketing and misrepresenting health insurance plans. The sentence also requires him to forfeit $1,500,000 and pay more than $2,500,000 in restitution to the victims of the fraud scheme.