November 21, 2019

U.S. Department of Labor Restores Over $2.5 Billion To Employee Benefit Plans and Participants

WASHINGTON, DCThe U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today released its program results for Fiscal Year 2019. EBSA’s enforcement and benefit advisor programs recovered over $2.5 billion in payments to plans, participants and beneficiaries.

November 20, 2019

U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Federal Court Sentencing Long Beach Spa Owner for Maritime Union Healthcare Plan Fraud

LOS ANGELES, CA – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has sentenced Erica Carey – former owner of Long Beach Medi-Spa in Long Beach, California – to three years' probation and ordered her to pay $366,740 in restitution for defrauding a maritime union welfare plan.

November 20, 2019

U.S. Department of Labor Obtains Consent Order and Judgment To Restore Assets to Participants in Ohio Employee Benefit Plans

DAYTON, OH – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio issued a consent order and judgment requiring the fiduciaries of Day-Mont Behavioral Health Care Inc. to restore $141,666 to the defunct Dayton, Ohio-based company’s employee benefit health and annuity plans. The mental health services provider ceased operations in 2018.

November 18, 2019

U.S. Department of Labor Releases Advance Copies Of Form 5500 Annual Return/Report for 2019

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the IRS and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) today released advance informational copies of the 2019 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and related instructions.

October 22, 2019

U.S. Department of Labor Proposes New Electronic Disclosure Rule

WASHINGTON, DC – Consistent with President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Order 13847, Strengthening Retirement Security in America, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced a proposed rule to allow online retirement plan disclosures to reduce printing and mail expenses for job creators and make disclosures more readily accessible and useful for America’s workers.

October 1, 2019

U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in Tennessee Transportation Provider Paying $454,545 in Restitution to Employee Stock Ownership Plan

SHELBYVILLE, TN – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee has approved a settlement between the U.S. Department of Labor and Big G Express Inc., Stephen Thompson, and David Nolan involving the company's Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

In accordance with the consent judgment, Big G Express – a Shelbyville, Tennessee-based trucking company – paid $454,545 in restitution to the plan. The Department also assessed a civil penalty of $45,454 against the defendants.  

September 6, 2019

U.S. Department of Labor Announces Actions to Assist Americans Impacted By Hurricane Dorian

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced actions it is taking to assist Americans in states affected by Hurricane Dorian.

"The U.S. Department of Labor is actively engaged in Administration-wide efforts to help those impacted by Hurricane Dorian," said Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Patrick Pizzella. "As Americans from across the country rally to help each other, the Department of Labor is committed to supporting recovery efforts."

U.S. Department of Labor actions taken regarding Hurricane Dorian include the following:

August 26, 2019

U.S. Department of Labor Investigation Results in North Carolina Business Owners Paying $21,404 in Employee Contributions, Unpaid Medical Claims

CHARLOTTE, NC – The U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Charlotte Division, has entered a consent judgment and order between the U.S. Department of Labor and Steven Matthew Good, William H. Winn Jr., SmartCore LLC, and the SmartCore LLC Group Health Benefit Plan requiring them to pay $21,404 to the plan participants to cover unpaid medical claims or to reimburse their contributions to the plan.

August 16, 2019

Court Sentences Omaha, Nebraska, Resident to Jail, Orders $276,878 In Restitution After U.S. Department of Labor Finds Benefits Fraud

OMAHA, NE – After a joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General, the U.S. District Court of Nebraska has sentenced Craig A.

August 15, 2019

Federal Judge Orders Virginia Company’s Former CEO and Institutional Fiduciary to Restore $6,502,500 to Employee Stock Ownership Plan

FOREST, VA – The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia has ordered the former CEO of a Virginia packaging equipment company and the bank that acted as a transactional fiduciary of the company’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) to restore $6,502,500 to the plan.

July 29, 2019

U.S. Department of Labor Announces Rule to Strengthen Retirement Security for Millions of American Workers

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a rule to help strengthen retirement security for millions of small business employees across America.

June 19, 2019

Former Ohio Labor Union Official Sentenced to Year in Prison after Pleading Guilty to Embezzling from Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, Local 84

YOUNGSTOWN, OH – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and Office of Inspector General, U.S. District Court Judge Benita Y. Pearson of the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division in Youngstown, Ohio, has sentenced former union official Terry Doan to one year in prison, followed by three years of probation. The court also ordered him to pay $195,446 in restitution to the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee of the Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers, Local 84 in Kent, Ohio.

June 19, 2019

U.S. Department of Labor Obtains Consent Order and Judgment To Restore Assets to Participants in Jackson, Michigan, Retirement Plan

JACKSON, MI – The U.S. Department of Labor has obtained a consent order and judgment requiring the fiduciaries of the DJI & Associates Inc. Simple Plan to restore $68,539 to the Jackson, Michigan-based employee benefit plan.

June 19, 2019

Louisiana Couple Pleads Guilty to Operating Fraudulent Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement

NEW ORLEANS, LA – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana accepted the guilty pleas of The Total Financial Group (TTFG) and its owners – Denis J. Joachim and Donna K. Joachim – after investigations by multiple government agencies – including the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) and Office of Inspector General (OIG) – found Covington, Louisiana-based TTFG and the Joachims created, marketed, and operated a fraudulent multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA).

June 13, 2019

U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury Expand Access to Quality, Affordable Health Coverage Through Health Reimbursement Arrangements

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury issued a new policy that will provide hundreds of thousands of employers, including small businesses, a better way to provide health insurance coverage, and millions of American workers more options for health insurance coverage. The Departments issued a final regulation that will expand the use of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs).

May 16, 2019

Six New Members Appointed to the 2019 ERISA Advisory Council

WASHINGTON, DC – Today the U.S. Department of Labor announced the appointments of six new members as well as chair and vice chair to the 2019 Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans, known as the ERISA Advisory Council.

May 2, 2019

U.S. Department of Labor Obtains Consent Order and Judgment To Distribute Assets to Participants of Ohio Retirement Plan

FREMONT, OH – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Cincinnati office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the Department of Labor has obtained a consent order and judgment requiring the fiduciaries of Fremont, Ohio-based Techniform Industries Inc. 401(k) Plan to restore $23,716 to the plan and pay a penalty of $4,743 for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

April 29, 2019

U.S. Department of Labor Statement Relating to the U.S. District Court Ruling in State of New York v. United States Department of Labor

WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Labor today released a policy statement regarding Association Health Plans (AHPs). The Department disagrees with the district court's ruling in The State of New York v. United States Department of Labor. The U.S. Department of Justice filed an appeal on April 26, 2019. 

April 26, 2019

Federal Court Allows Payment of Outstanding Health Care Claims For Employees of Bankrupt Home Owners Bargain Outlet

CHICAGO, IL – The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, granted a motion allowing Morgan Administration Inc. and associated debtors doing business as Home Owners Bargain Outlet (HOBO), to engage Paradigm Health Plans, the approved third-party administrator, to reconcile and administer outstanding medical claims for employees participating in HOBO's health plan.

April 8, 2019

Federal Court Orders Illinois Business Owner to Pay $1,439,678, in Restitution, Serve 5 Years in Prison for Fraud Involving Investors’ Savings

CHICAGO, IL – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has sentenced Lake County, Illinois-based business owner Richard Booy, to serve five years imprisonment followed by an additional three years of supervised release, and to make $1,439,678 million in restitution for defrauding his clients in a Ponzi-type scheme totaling approximately $2 million. As a result of the the March 18, 2019 sentencing, Booy is statutorily barred from serving as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).