December 7, 2009

Head of US Department of Labor's employee benefits agency to host live Web chat on regulatory agenda Dec. 9

Washington – The head of the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will host a live Web chat -open to the public and members of the press - to discuss their respective regulatory agendas. The Labor Department's entire regulatory agenda is published in today's Federal Register.

Who:

December 2, 2009

Federal court holds Gulfport, Mississippi, defendant liable for more than $300,000 in pension assets following investigation by U.S. Department of Labor

Gulfport, Mississippi – A federal district court in Gulfport, Mississippi, has ordered Jomey B. Ethridge liable for $303,084.61 in assets belonging to the 401(k) plan of bankrupt Struthers Industries and permanently barred him from serving as fiduciary of any plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

November 30, 2009

U.S. Labor Department recovers misused funds for profit sharing plan of Brockton, Massachusetts, plumbing and heating company

Boston – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and order recovering more than $89,000 owed to the participants of the T.E. Corcoran Co. Inc. Profit Sharing Plan as a result of loans made to the plan sponsor and an affiliated company by plan trustees. The plan was sponsored by the plumbing and heating company based in Brockton, Massachusetts, for the benefit of the company’s employees.

November 25, 2009

U.S. Labor Department obtains judgment ordering removal of 401(k) plan fiduciary for Tile Impressions Inc.

Spring Lakes, Mich. – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent order and judgment requiring Tile Impressions Inc. of Spring Lakes be removed as fiduciary of the company's 401(k) plan for failure to properly administer the plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

November 25, 2009

U.S. Department of Labor sues defunct Blackstone, Va., company to protect participants of abandoned retirement plan

Blackstone, Va. – The U.S. Department of Labor has sued to have an independent fiduciary appointed to oversee the tax deferred savings plan of OSF America Inc., a defunct company formerly located in Blackstone.

November 24, 2009

U.S. Labor Department sponsors free retirement seminar for employee benefit plan fiduciaries in St. Louis

St. Louis, Mo. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will sponsor "Getting It Right - Know Your Fiduciary Responsibilities," a free retirement plan seminar in St. Louis on December 8 at the Robert A. Young Federal Building, Second Floor Auditorium - Room 2-308, 1222 Spruce St.

November 23, 2009

US Labor Department obtains court order garnishing wages of former trustee of 401(k) plan abandoned by Rochester, NY, employer

New York – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order of wage garnishment against Bonnie Dolan (also known as Bonnie Ariola), previously the sole owner of the now defunct Bonnie Optical Inc. of Rochester, N.Y. Dolan was also the sole trustee and fiduciary of the company's 401(k) plan set up for the benefit of her then employees.

November 19, 2009

US Labor Department withdraws rules on investment advice

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced the publication of a notice withdrawing the final rule on the provision of investment advice under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's prohibited transaction provisions. The regulatory action is expected to be published in the Nov. 20 edition of the Federal Register.

November 16, 2009

U.S. Labor Department further extends effective date of rules on investment advice

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced publication of a notice further extending the applicability and effective dates of the final rule on investment advice under the Pension Protection Act to May 17, 2010. The notice is expected to be published in the November 17 edition of the Federal Register.

November 12, 2009

Owner of Marietta, Georgia, insurance agency sentenced for diverting 401(k) assets

Marietta – The Superior Court of Cobb County Georgia in Marietta has sentenced the owner of the Hoyla Insurance Group to serve five years in prison, to be followed by 15 years of probation, after his plea of guilty to 19 counts of theft, including theft of $65,000 from the company's 401(k) plan.

November 4, 2009

U.S. Labor Department obtains appointment of independent fiduciary for abandoned 401(k) plan of defunct Whitman, Massachusetts, company

Boston — The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order appointing an independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of Autolines Inc., a company formerly located in Whitman, Massachusetts.

November 3, 2009

U.S. Department of Labor sues owner of defunct Kearneysville, West Virginia, corporation

Kearneysville, West Virginia – The U.S. Department of Labor has filed an adversary complaint in federal bankruptcy court against Sherry Hill, part owner of now defunct Stinger Sheet Metal, Inc., to prevent her from discharging an alleged debt of $63, 347 owed to the company’s SIMPLE IRA employee benefit plan.

November 2, 2009

U.S. Labor Department obtains court judgment to restore more than $1.2 million to El Vocero de Puerto Rico union employee retirement plan

San Juan, Puerto Rico – Caribbean International News Corp. has been ordered by a federal court to restore more than $1.2 million to the El Vocero de Puerto Rico Union Employees Savings and Investment Plan, a retirement plan established for the benefit of the company’s unionized employees. The corporation does business as El Vocero de Puerto Rico, a newspaper based in San Juan.

October 28, 2009

U.S. Labor Department recovers funds for abandoned 401(k) plan of Lexington, Massachusetts employer

Boston – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent judgment and order recovering more than $25,000 owed to the Benes Communications Inc. 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan. The plan was sponsored by the now defunct Michael Benes Communications Inc. of Lexington, Massachusetts, and was controlled by Robert Feige, who was the president, treasurer, secretary, director and majority owner of Benes Communications.

October 28, 2009

U.S. Labor Department bars Raymond Palombo from running federally-regulated health plans

San Francisco — The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a court order permanently barring Raymond Palombo of Riverside, California, from serving in a fiduciary or service provider capacity to any employee benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Palombo and other defendants were sued by the department when they left thousands of workers and their families in Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Texas and other states with unpaid health claims.

October 27, 2009

U.S. Department of Labor to host third webcast on preparing for 2009 Form 5500 and electronic filing requirements

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will host a free webcast November 5 to help employers, plan administrators and service providers prepare for changes to the Form 5500 and electronic filing requirement that begin with the 2009 plan year filings.

October 23, 2009

Employee Benefits Security Administration issues additional guidance on Schedule C reporting for 2009 Form 5500

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today released additional guidance to help plan administrators and service providers comply with the expanded requirements for reporting service provider fee and compensation information on the Form 5500 Annual Returns/Reports. The expanded requirements apply for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009.

October 22, 2009

Court judgment requires Mokena, Illinois-based company and chief executive officer to restore retirement fund losses

Mokena, Illinois – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a default judgment in federal district court in Chicago requiring the plan fiduciary of the TMG National Holdings retirement plan to restore $4,110.80 to the plan for improperly using plan assets to benefit the company.

October 21, 2009

U.S. Department of Labor obtains consent judgment requiring Winter Park, Florida, law firm to terminate pension plan and distribute assets to participants

Orlando, Florida – Bichler and Kelley P.A. and two individuals, the law firm’s director and office manager, have agreed to terminate the firm’s savings incentive match plan for employees individual retirement account (SIMPLE IRA) plan and distribute the assets to participants as part of a federal district court’s consent judgment and order.

October 21, 2009

U.S. Labor Department obtains appointment of independent fiduciary for 401(k) plan abandoned by Boston company

Boston – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a federal court order appointing an independent fiduciary to manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of defunct Boston-based Clearway Technologies LLC.