CHICAGO, IL – The U.S. Department of Labor has entered into a settlement agreement with U.S. Fiduciary Services and three of its subsidiaries that provides for payment of more than $7 million to 42 retirement plans that suffered losses as a result of investments in fictitious loans made by Florida-based First Farmers Financial LLC (FFF).

HARTFORD, CT – After an investigation by the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and Office of Inspector General (OIG), Yolanda Silverio, a former eligibility coordinator for a Connecticut company that administers trust funds for public and private sector health benefit plans, has been sentenced by the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut to 10 months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release.

PROVIDENCE, RI – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) participated in a multi-agency investigation related to pension fund theft that has resulted in a criminal conviction. John M. Hairabet, Jr., a former business associate and office manager of New England Anesthesiologists Inc.

CHICAGO, IL – Following a U.S. Department of Labor investigation, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered a judgment requiring Michael Lewis, former president of Acme Orthotics and Prosthetic Laboratories Inc., to restore $128,535.75 in losses owed to the company’s Profit Sharing 401(k) Plan and Trust (“Plan”).

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced today its decision for April 1, 2018, as the applicability date for employee benefit plans to comply with a final rule under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) that will give America’s workers new procedural protections when dealing with plan fiduciaries and insurance providers who deny their claims for disability benefits.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to expand the opportunity to offer employment-based health insurance to small businesses through Small Business Health Plans, also known as Association Health Plans.

CONCORD, NH – A New Hampshire man has pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of obstruction of justice in connection with a U.S. Department of Labor wage and hour investigation and litigation. It is believed to be the first federal criminal prosecution arising from a Department wage and hour investigation in New Hampshire.

BIRMINGHAM, AL – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, Southern Division, has sentenced a former fund manager in Birmingham to make restitution in the amount of $45,896 and serve five years of probation, including six months of home confinement, for violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. In addition, she has been barred from acting as a fiduciary for five years.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced an 18-month extension from Jan. 1, 2018, to July 1, 2019, of the special Transition Period for the Fiduciary Rule’s Best Interest Contract Exemption and the Principal Transactions Exemption, and of the applicability of certain amendments to Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-24 (PTEs). This follows public comment on a proposed extension that was published in August.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a ninety (90) day delay – through April 1, 2018 – of the applicability date for ERISA plans to comply with a final rule amending the claims procedure requirements applicable to disability benefits.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced employee benefit plan compliance guidance and relief for victims of Hurricane Maria and the October 2017 California Wildfires.

The Department understands that plan fiduciaries, employers, labor organizations, service providers, and participants and beneficiaries may encounter issues complying with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) over the next few months as the implications of Hurricane Maria and the California Wildfires unfold.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the IRS, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) today released advance informational copies of the 2017 Form 5500 annual return/report and related instructions.

NEW YORK, NY – The U.S. Department of Labor has reached agreements to resolve three lawsuits with First Bankers Trust Services Inc. (FBTS). The lawsuits alleged that FBTS violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) when it approved stock purchases by three Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). As part of the agreements, FBTS will pay $15.75 million to the plans and reform its procedures for handling ESOP transactions.

CHICAGO, IL – The U.S. Department of Labor obtained a temporary restraining order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against AEU Holdings LLC and AEU Benefits LLC (collectively “AEU”), and Black Wolf Consulting Inc. The defendants failed to pay more than $26 million for participants’ health benefit claims in the AEU Holdings LLC Employee Benefit Plan.

NEWARK, NJ – After a seven-day trial, a jury sitting in U.S. District Court in Newark found Paul Moe Sr., general foreman for a Port Elizabeth terminal operator, guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 13 substantive counts of wire fraud.

PORT ST. LUCIE, FL – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has sentenced a Port St. Lucie resident to serve 161 months of imprisonment, followed by an additional three years of supervised release, and to make $1,665,348 in restitution for violating federal criminal statutes pertaining to plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor announced employee benefit plan compliance guidance and relief for victims of Hurricane Irma that parallels that which it already provided to victims of Hurricane Harvey regarding verification procedures for plan loans and distributions, participant contributions and loan payments, blackout notices, and group health plan compliance. The Hurricane Harvey relief was announced on Aug. 30, 2017, in EBSA Release Number 17-1216-NAT.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a proposed 18-month extension from January 1, 2018, to July 1, 2019, of the special transition period for the Fiduciary Rule’s Best Interest Contract (BIC) Exemption and the Principal Transactions Exemption, and certain amendments to Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-24.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced an update on employee benefit plan compliance for those impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

“Our deepest and most immediate concern is for those who are in harm’s way, and for the first responders who will work tirelessly to help those affected,” said U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta. “We also realize that employers and employees impacted by Hurricane Harvey will need assistance in dealing with employee benefits issues arising from disruptions in banking and payroll processing.”

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is soliciting nominations to fill five, three-year vacancies on the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, also known as the ERISA Advisory Council. The deadline to submit nominations is Aug. 31.