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Release Date: 07/02/2003
Release Number: III-03-07-2-095-NJ
Contact Name: Sharon Morrissey
Phone Number: 202.693.8664
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Newark, New Jersey - The U.S. Department of
Labor sued the abandoned Farmstead Asset Management Services LLC 401(k)
plan of Cranberry, New Jersey to permit its participants access to and to
authorize distributions from their individual accounts in the plan. |
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Since 1999, the suit alleges that Farmstead’s owners
and plan trustees, Anthony Farrugia and Alan Anger, abandoned their duties
and positions with the plan. Neither man has appointed trustees as
replacements; therefore, no one has taken fiduciary responsibility for the
operation of the plan and its assets. The department also believes the
company to be defunct and its plan has not been formally terminated. |
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“The law states that plans must be managed and
operated by employers or plan fiduciaries,” said Francis Clisham,
regional director of department’s New York regional office of the
Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), which investigated the
violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). “Our
case was filed to ensure that these workers and their families have
someone with authority to transact plan business and distribute its assets
to eligible participants.” |
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The department’s complaint, filed July 1 in federal
district court in Newark, New Jersey, asks the court to appoint an
independent fiduciary to administer the plan, distribute plan assets to
the participants and then terminate the plan. The suit also names the plan’s
custodian, Reliastar Life Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, as a
defendant for the sole purposes of ensuring relief among the parties in
this case. |
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There were 7 participants in the plan, including
Farrugia and Anger, and assets totaling approximately $21,500. |
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Employers and workers can contact the New York Regional
Office at 212.607.8600 or EBSA’s toll free number, 1.866.444.EBSA
(3272), for help with problems relating to private-sector pension and
health plans. |
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(Chao v. Farmstead Asset Management Services, LLC
401(k) Plan) |
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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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