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Release Date: 01/30/1998
Release Number: USDL:
BOS 98-027
Contact Name: John M. Chavez
Phone Number:
617.565.2075 |
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Tiger Lee Construction Company of Andover,
Connecticut, as well as Eugene Sammartino and Christine Sammartino, as owners
of the company, have been sued by the U.S. Department of Labor to recover
misused assets of the company's two employee pension plans. |
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In a complaint, filed with the U.S. District
Court for the District of Connecticut on January 28, 1998, the Department
alleges that the Sammartinos violated the federal pension law, known as the
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), by using the assets of their
company's pension plan and profit sharing plan for their own purposes rather
than for the sole benefit of their employees participating in the
plans. |
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Specifically, the complaint alleges that the
Sammartinos, who were both trustees of the plans, at various times between
November 1986 and March 1994 illegally caused the profit sharing plan and the
pension plan to loan both of them a total of $437,100. The suit also alleges
that neither principal nor interest on any of these loans has ever been repaid
by the Sammartinos. |
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The Department's suit asks the federal court to:
prevent the Sammartinos from ever again serving as fiduciaries or service
providers to any employee benefit plan covered by ERISA; permanently enjoin the
trustees and the company from future violations of ERISA; require the
defendants to restore to the plans all losses they caused to the plans, plus
interest; and require the defendants to correct the prohibited transactions in
which they participated. |
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This court action is the result of an
investigation by the Boston Regional Office of the Labor Department's Pension
and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA), which administers and enforces
ERISA. |
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(Herman v. Eugene Sammartino, et. al.)
Civil
Action No. 3:98CV149 |
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U.S. Department of
Labor news releases are accessible on the Internet. The information in this
news release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large
print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the Central Office for Assistive
Services and Technology. Please specify which news release when placing your
request. Call 202.693.7773 or TTY 202.693.7755. |
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