Fiduciaries to Restore Contributions to Maryland 401(k) Plan

The DOL’s suit, Perez v. Nyanjom, et al. (docket number: 1:13-cv-01909-CCB) was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The suit names David Nyanjom, Laura Nyanjom, Pulmonary Disease & Critical Care Associates and the Pulmonary Disease & Critical Care Associates 401(k) Plan as defendants. Case documents show David Nyanjom is the sole owner of Pulmonary Disease & Critical Care Associates, a medical practice located in Columbia, Maryland.

Based on an investigation by the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the suit alleges that defendants David Nyanjom and Laura Nyanjom failed to ensure that employee contributions and loan repayments were remitted to and collected by the plan in a timely manner.

Case documents show the 401(k) plan at Pulmonary Disease & Critical Care Associates was established in 1998. Another company owned by David Nyanjom, Patuxent Hospitalists LLC, also had employees who participated in this plan. David Nyanjom and Laura Nyanjom were responsible for making decisions concerning the remittance of elective contributions to the plan and were fiduciaries to the plan.

As a result of the consent judgment, the district court ordered that the defendants make restitution to the plan in the amount of $66,474.02 for unremitted employee contributions and loan repayments, $66,392.57 in pre-judgment interest, and $9,750 for costs and expenses associated with the appointment of an independent fiduciary, for a total of $142,616.59.

The defendants were also removed as fiduciaries to the plan and will be permanently barred from serving as fiduciaries to any plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The consent judgment document can be found here.