|
|
|
|
|
Release Date: 03/02/1998
Release Number: USDL:
NY 121
Contact Name:GLORIA DELLA
Phone Number:
202.219.8921 |
|
|
|
Bella Vista Group, Inc. of Bowmansville, N.Y., and
company president Pasquale Cipolla have agreed to repay $1,638,867 to the
company’s profit sharing plan as restitution for substantial losses on a
series of loans made by the pension plan to companies owned by Cipolla under a
consent judgment and order obtained by the U. S. Department of Labor. |
|
In addition, the company and Cipolla agreed to
appointment of an independent plan administrator who is satisfactory to the
department to manage the plan. Cipolla, who also was trustee of the plan,
agreed to be barred from serving in a position of trust to any plan governed by
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). |
|
“The participants of this plan will be made
whole because of cooperative efforts between the department and the Internal
Revenue Service, ” said James Benages, the Boston Regional Director of the
Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA). “Close coordination
among agencies of the federal government made it possible for the defendants to
repay to their employees the hard earned dollars needed to pay promised pension
benefits,” he added. |
|
In 1994, the department sued Bella Vista Group
(BVG), its parent Innovative Genera Contractors (IGC), and plan trustee
Pasquale Cipolla for making $1.3 million in loans toBVG, IGC and others over
the period 1988 to 1993. The lawsuit alleged that Cipolla failed to conduct
credit checks and to require security for the loans. Numerous of the loans are
in default and resulted in losses to the plan. |
|
The settlement, entered on Feb. 24 in federal
district court in Buffalo, resulted from an investigation conducted by
PWBA’s Boston Regional Office into alleged violations of the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act. |
|
(Herman v. Cipolla)
Civil Action No.
94-CV-0507H |
|
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. |
|
|
