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Release Date: 12/23/2002
Release Number: BOS 2002-250
Contact Name: John M. Chavez
Phone Number: 617.565.2075
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Boston, Massachusetts - The U.S. Department of
Labor has obtained a consent judgment requiring the trustees of a
Torrington, Connecticut, pension plan to
repay $58,000 to the Interior Technology, Inc. Prevailing Wage Plan in
order to reverse the unlawful transfer of plan funds to the company. |
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“The law makes it very clear that trustees of
employee pension and benefit plans must administer the plan solely for the
benefit of its participants and beneficiaries,” said James Benages,
regional director in Boston for the U.S. Labor Department’s Pension and
Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA). “Transferring plan assets to the
company sponsoring the plan is prohibited.” |
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The judgment, signed by U.S. District Judge Dominic J.
Squatrito on December 18, 2002, requires defendants William C. Mascetti
and Patricia J. Mascetti to repay the funds to the plan within 30 days,
and prohibits them from future violations of the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act (ERISA). |
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A department lawsuit filed December 28, 2001, in the
U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut alleged that the
defendants had violated ERISA, the federal law which protects private
employee pension and welfare benefit plans, by causing the company’s
pension plan to transfer nearly $48,000 to Interior Technology, Inc. in
1994. The company, which has since gone out of business, never repaid the
funds to the plan. |
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While neither admitting nor denying the allegations of
the department’s lawsuit, the defendants agreed to entry of the consent
judgment, which also prohibits them from serving as fiduciaries of any
ERISA covered plan for a period of five years from the date of the
judgment. |
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The order further requires the defendants to make sure
that all of the pension plan’s participants receive their proper share
of the plan’s assets. Thereafter, the defendants must make sure the plan
is terminated in an orderly manner. |
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The PWBA regional office in Boston investigated this
case. Employers and workers can reach that office at 617.565.9600. PWBA’s
Toll-Free Employee & Employer Hotline number, 1.866.275.7922, also may
be called for help with problems relating to private-sector pension and
health plans. |
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Additional information is available on the agency’s
Internet web site at www.dol.gov/pwba. |
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(Chao v. William C. Mascetti, et al
Civil Action No. 01-CV-2431-DJS)
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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. |
