Court Authorizes Restoration of Plan Assets

Thomas Ramsburg is the sole owner and chief operating officer of TMR Inc., of Broomall, Pennsylvania. The company sponsors and administers a 401(k) plan for its employees, and Ramsburg is a fiduciary of the plan, responsible for making decisions concerning the remittance of employee contributions to the plan.

An investigation by the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) found that from January 2008 to January 2011, the company deducted money from the participants’ pay as participant loan repayments to the plan. The company then failed to remit the aforementioned participant loan repayments to the plan, and remitted certain participant loan repayments late without interest.

The DOL filed Perez v. Ramsburg, et al (No. 13-5073) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to recover more than $18,000 in plan assets on behalf of the employees who participated in the 401(k) plan.

The court issued a consent judgment on September 3, 2013, and Ramsburg and TMR Inc. agreed to restore $13,486.80 in losses, plus $4,579.62 in interest. Under the judgment, the defendant is permanently enjoined from acting as a fiduciary or service provider to any plan covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and has the duty to cooperate fully in the termination of the plan and the distribution of its assets to the extent that such cooperation is required.

The full text of the judgment can be found here.