Compliance June 10, 2004

DoL Sues CEO For 401(k) Theft

June 10, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) has filed suit against a former corporate chief executive officer (CEO) who alleged stole assets from his company's 401(k) plan.
Reported by

>The DoL’s suit alleges David Welliver, the CEO of D.B. Welliver & Co. Inc. of St. Paul, Minnesota, authorized three separate wire transfers totaling $28,750 from the company’s 401(k) plan to his personal bank account.   These transfers were in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the DoL said in a news release.

>Filed in the federal District Court in St. Paul, the suit is requesting Welliver to restore all losses to the plan, including lost opportunity costs, and to correct the prohibited transactions.   Additionally, the DoL’s suit seeks to permanently bar Welliver from serving as a fiduciary to any employee benefit plan covered by ERISA.

>In a related action, the department expects to file an adversary complaint in federal Bankruptcy Court in St. Paul to prevent Welliver from discharging any debt he owes to the plan, the DoL said.

The case is Chao v. Welliver .

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