Compliance May 11, 2005

DoL Goes After $1M Owed to Home Builder K Plan

May 11, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Federal officials have accused the former president of a now-defunct Spring Lake, Michigan home builder of misusing more than $1 million in K plan assets to help pay corporate debts.
Reported by

>According to a news release from the US Department of Labor (DoL), between August 1992 and May 2004, Ronald Retsema, president and plan trustee, violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by allegedly transferring more than $2.5 million from Rycenga Homes’ 401(k) plan to the business and diverting money from workers’ paychecks targeted for the K plan.

>The DoL said it estimates that over $1 million in assets plus interest were not repaid to the 401(k).  

>The civil lawsuit, filed in US District Court for the Western District of Michigan, seeks to require that Retsema repay all losses with interest to the plan.   The suit also seeks appointment of an independent fiduciary to collect, terminate and distribute any remaining plan assets to eligible plan participants.

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