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Release Date: March 14, 2006
Release Number: 06-474-CHI
Contact Name: Brad Mitchell
Phone Number: 312.353.6976
Grand Rapids, Michigan - The U.S. Department
of Labor has obtained a judgment requiring a former trustee of the
Rycenga Homes Inc. Profit Sharing 401(k) Plan in Spring Lake, Michigan,
to restore $1,132,229 to the plan. Ronald Retsema is also permanently
barred from serving as a fiduciary or service provider to employee
benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
The judgment resolves a lawsuit filed by the Labor Department which
alleged that Retsema, president of Rycenga Homes and the plan’s
trustee, violated ERISA between August 1992 and May 2004 by transferring
more than $2.5 million from the 401(k) plan to the business and failing
to remit contributions deducted from employees’ paychecks to the plan.
“Workers who thought they were contributing to
their 401(k) retirement plan were robbed of their retirement security,”
said U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao. “Our legal action seeks to
recover these workers’ 401(k) funds and prevent the plan trustee from
occupying such positions of trust again.”
The department found that over $1 million in assets
and lost earnings were not restored to the 401(k) plan. In a separate
bankruptcy action, the court ordered Retsema to pay any debts owed to
the 401(k). The suit, filed in federal district court in Michigan,
resulted from an investigation conducted by the Cincinnati regional
office of the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security
Administration (EBSA). Employers and workers can reach the Cincinnati
regional office at 859.578.4680 or through EBSA’s toll-free number,
1.866.444.EBSA (3272), for help with problems relating to private-sector
retirement and health plans.
Last year, EBSA recovered $1.7 billion in pension,
401(k), health and other benefits for American workers and their
families.
Chao v. Retsema
Civil Action No. 1:05-cv-323
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