Please note: As of January 20, 2021, information in some news releases may be out of date or not reflect current policies.
News Release
Labor Department’s Lawsuit Recovers Interest For Mortgage Corporation of America’s Retirement Plan
Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.
Detroit, Michigan - Recent lawsuits by the U.S. Department of Labor against three trustees of the Mortgage Corporation of America’s Employees’ Retirement Plan have recovered a total of $15,420 in interest (lost opportunity costs) the trustees owed to the plan. The Southfield, Michigan company is currently in Chapter 11 liquidation bankruptcy.
In the latest action in a series of legal proceedings, the department received approval November 5 from the bankruptcy court in trustee Keith D. Pietila’s personal bankruptcy case allowing an offset of his own plan account to recoup $5,420 -- lost opportunity costs he owed to the plan. This followed a September 24, default judgment obtained by the department in its district court case against him.
A separate consent judgment was obtained on October 31 against trustees Patrick D. Quinlan and Lee P. Wells. It allowed each of their personal plan accounts to pay $5,000 in lost opportunity costs, which they owed separately to the plan.
As of November 7, the plan had 428 participants and $3,129,275 in assets. It may now be terminated and its assets distributed consistent with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
In April 2001, the bankruptcy court approved the Secretary of Labor’s claim for repayment of almost $170,000 to the plan. That payment, made a month later, represented voluntary employee contributions of $150,774 withheld from employees’ paychecks, voluntary employee loan repayments of $9,640 and employer matching contributions of $9,513 – all not previously paid to the plan.
The Cincinnati regional office of the Labor Department’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (PWBA) conducted the investigation resulting in the case.
Employers and workers can contact the Cincinnati office at 859.578.4680 or PWBA’s Toll-Free Employee & Employer Hotline number at 1.866.275.7922 for help with problems relating to private-sector pension and health plans.
(Chao v. Patrick D. Quinlan, Lee P. Wells and Keith D. Pietila
Civil Action No. 02-70844 Keith Pietila and Judith Pietila
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Case No. 02-42002-swr)
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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.