Retirement plan assets are for the exclusive use of plan participants, it\u2019s not supposed to be for the use of fiduciaries for their own use.<\/p>\n
The fiduciaries of an international design firm in Moorestown, N.J. must pay more than $2 million to restore mismanaged assets to the company\u2019s retirement plan and in penalties following an investigation and litigation\u00a0by the Department of Labor.<\/p>\n
DOL\u2019s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) determined that\u00a0InterArch\u00a0Inc. and Shirley and Vernon Hill, fiduciaries of the\u00a0InterArch\u00a0Inc.\u00a0Profit-Sharing Plan, violated\u00a0their fiduciary duties under ERISA.<\/p>\n
Through an investigation, the DOL discovered\u00a0that from at least Aug. 30, 2016, through the plan\u2019s June 30, 2020, termination, the fiduciaries invested the plan\u2019s assets in two companies to which the fiduciaries had significant ties. Shirley Hill, who owns the design firm, invested the bulk of the plan\u2019s assets in a bank owned by her spouse, Vernon Hill. Their unlawful investments cost the plan more than $17 million after the bank\u2019s shares plummeted.\u00a0The plan\u2019s position in the stock of one of the companies reached almost 70% of the plan\u2019s portfolio.\u00a0In June 2020, the\u00a0design firm\u00a0terminated the plan and sold the shares for 96% less than their peak value.<\/p>\n
InterArch\u00a0Inc. and fiduciaries Shirley and Vernon Hill\u00a0have agreed\u00a0to pay $1,836,853, to plan participants and $183,685, in penalties to resolve the allegations.<\/p>\n
InterArch\u00a0Inc. and the Hills will additionally pay approximately $1.1 million to the retirement plan to resolve a separate private class action lawsuit filed by a former employee.<\/p>\n
<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Retirement plan assets are for the exclusive use of plan participants, it\u2019s not supposed to be for the use of fiduciaries for their own use. The fiduciaries of an international design firm in Moorestown, N.J. must pay more than $2 … Continue reading