Profit-sharing Plan "Loaned" to Currency Exchange

October 16, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A New York employer that loaned all its profit-sharing plan assets to a currency exchange has been forced to make the plan whole by the Department of Labor.

Plattsburgh, N.Y.- based Plattco Corporation was ordered to pay $134,616.15 to the company’s profit sharing plan, according to the Labor Department.  

At the heart of the matter was an improper loan made by Peter Guibord and Barrie Guibord, officers and owners of Plattco to Durham’s Exchange, Inc.   Since the loan was made in 1999, Durham’s had never made a repayment.  

Shortcomings

The Labor Department charged that Peter Guibord made and periodically renewed the loan of all of the plan’s assets to Durham’s Exchange, Inc.   Nonetheless, Guibord allegedly failed to adequately investigate the merits of the loan, to obtain the advice of an expert, to obtain adequate collateral, to diversify the plan’s assets, to timely rectify the violations, and to comply with plan documents.

Plattco is a privately held corporation that makes valves.   Peter Guibord and Barrie Guibord were officers and owners of the company. In 1999, the plan covered 115 participants.

This judgment, entered September 9, 2002, resulted from an investigation conducted by the Boston Regional Office of the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration into alleged violations of ERISA.  

Employers and workers can reach the regional office at (617) 565-9600 or through a new toll free number, 1-866-275-7922, for help with problems relating to private-sector pension and health plans.

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