Labor department files suit over profit-sharing plans

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20090429/NEWS01/90429041

April 29, 2009

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed two lawsuits asking U.S. District Court to appoint independent fiduciaries to oversee the abandoned profit-sharing plans of defunct H&M Tool and Machine Co. and Valmar Industrial Corp., both formerly located in the Binghamton area.

Each company sponsored a profit-sharing plan that was under control of the same owner, the labor department said. Both plans had the same fiduciary, which stopped administering the plans when the businesses went under in 2004. Without a fiduciary, participants and beneficiaries cannot obtain plan information, make investments or collect retirement benefits.

The suit alleges that the plans haven’t filed legally required annual reports since 1994, and that participants and beneficiaries haven’t been able to access the plans since 2004. The suit asks the court to appoint independent trustees and fiduciaries to administer the plans and either distribute plan benefits or assets.

As of May 29, 2007, the H&M plan had assets valued at $272,014 and the Valmar plan had assets valued at $56,690. JP Morgan Chase Bank is the custodian of both plans’ assets.