DOL Seeks to Replace Deceased Plan Trustee

In Perez v. Van Buren Automotive Products 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan of Medford, NY (docket number: 1:13-cv-04402-JG-RER), the DOL seeks to give participants of the Van Buren Automotive Products 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan access to their plan assets.

Van Buren Automotive Products went out of business in 1992. Anthony Spagnolo was the sole trustee of its plan and managed the disposition of the plan’s assets. However, since Spagnolo’s death in 2012, no one has assumed fiduciary responsibility for the plan. This has left the plan’s six remaining participants unable to access $102,582.34 in the plan’s assets.

The DOL filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on August 2, to have an independent trustee and fiduciary appointed to administer the plan and distribute its assets to the plan’s participants.

The full text of the complaint can be found here.