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 Sergio Amador – a member of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), Local 13 – to 12 months and one day in prison and ordered him to make $201,000 in restitution for defrauding the union’s Welfare Plan.

NEW YORK – After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has sentenced Sergio Acosta – the former president and a representative of United Auto Workers Local 2326 in Edison, New Jersey – to three years of probation, and ordered him to pay $32,000 in restitution for embezzling funds from the union's employee benefit plan.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) hosts a variety of seminars across the country and webcasts in order to enhance understanding of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.

MIAMI, FL – 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 Florida entered a consent judgment and order between the U.S. Department of Labor and Kevin F. Kirkeide, a former chief financial officer for IOTC Financial Services LLC and Global Oil Financial Services LLC – both based in Boca Raton, Florida.

MIAMI, FL – 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 Florida has sentenced Lanny Todd Fried – of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida – to 57 months in prison and 36 months of supervised release; and ordered him to pay a $81,163 fine for his role in a healthcare-related, money-laundering scheme.

MIAMI, FL – 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 Florida has sentenced Lawrence Michael Weisberg – President of Weisberg & Associates PA in Boca Raton, Florida – to 6 months in prison and 12 months of supervised release, ordered him to pay a $7,500 fine, and forfeit $41,234 for his role in a healthcare fraud-related money laundering scheme.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today released the 2018 Form M-1 and related instructions. Administrators of Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWAs) that provide medical benefits, including Association Health Plans (AHPs), must file the Form M-1 with the Department annually and following certain events, such as a MEWA’s expansion into a new State. 

COLUMBUS, IN – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana has ordered the fiduciaries of the Dorel Juvenile Group Inc. Welfare Benefit Plan to pay restitution of $145,635 to 596 employees of the Dorel Juvenile Group Inc.’s California, Indiana, and Massachusetts facilities who paid a tobacco use surcharge as part of their medical insurance premium.

LOUISVILLE, KY – As a result of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky has sentenced David Perez - co-founder of a Louisville, Kentucky, medical clinic - to 27 months in prison, two years of supervised release, and to pay $941,337 restitution for defrauding healthcare benefit programs.

NASHVILLE, TN – The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee has sentenced Bart Posey – of Springfield, Tennessee – to 168 months in prison, 36 months of supervised release, and ordered the defendant to pay $6,524,888 restitution after a U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) investigation discovered a multi-million dollar insurance fraud that affected more than 17,000 individuals nationwide.

MIAMI, FL – The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida has sentenced the chief executive officer and the chief operating officer of Smart Lab LLC to prison and ordered them and the company to pay more than $9.6 million in restitution after a federal investigation found that they had defrauded healthcare benefit programs.

CLEVELAND, OH – As a result of a joint investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio has sentenced business executive C. David Snyder of Cleveland, Ohio, to serve 24 months of imprisonment, followed by an additional three years of supervised release, and to make more than $781,000 in restitution, following a federal investigation and prosecution leading to conviction on charges of embezzlement and tax fraud.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) today released advance informational copies of the 2018 Form 5500 Annual Return/Report and related instructions. The "Changes to Note" section of the 2018 instructions highlights important modifications to the Form 5500 and Form 5500-SF, and their schedules and instructions. Modifications are as follows:

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today invited public comment on a proposed exemption related to the consolidation of small retirement savings accounts in 401(k) plans and IRAs when workers change jobs. The Department welcomes innovation in the area of retirement asset portability, and encourages additional proposals.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada has approved a consent judgment between the U.S. Department of Labor and Vision Airlines Inc. that requires the now-defunct company to pay $219,716 to former employees for violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in connection with their health plan. Vision Airlines Inc.; Vision Airlines Inc. Health and Welfare Plan; and fiduciaries William Acor and Shelley Lynne have also been assessed a civil penalty of approximately $44,000.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor has published employee benefit plan compliance guidance and relief for victims of Hurricanes Florence and Michael.

The Department recognizes 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 consequences of Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Michael unfold.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has developed compliance assistance resources to help protect employee benefits. EBSA's goal is to help workers by restoring plan assets and securing the payment of promised benefits, and to help employee benefit officials understand the law. These tools give employee benefit plans the ability to self-correct violations, and further the goals of the Department's recently announced Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI) to encourage and facilitate compliance.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Departments of the Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Labor today issued a proposed regulation that expands the usability of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). HRAs are designed to give working Americans and their families greater control over their healthcare by providing an additional way for employers to finance quality, affordable health insurance.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to help small businesses strengthen retirement security in America. 

The proposed rule would make it easier for small businesses to offer retirement savings plans to their workers through Association Retirement Plans, which would allow small businesses to band together to offer 401(k) plans to their employees.   

CHICAGO, IL – The U.S. Department of Labor obtained a consent order and judgment requiring the appointment of an independent fiduciary to the Sacred Heart Hospital Profit Sharing 401(k) Plan. The independent fiduciary will manage and distribute assets of the Chicago-based retirement plan to its nine participants.