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Release Date: August 5, 2008
Release Number: 08-1034-NEW/BOS 2008-223
Contact Name: John M. Chavez
Phone Number: 617.565.2075
New York – The U.S. Department of Labor has
obtained a federal court order appointing an independent fiduciary to
manage the abandoned 401(k) plan of the former Storch Sheinbrot &
Singer Physicians PC of Brooklyn, New York.
Under the order, entered in the U.S. District Court
for the Eastern District of New York, the court appointed Jacqueline
Carmichael as the independent fiduciary of the abandoned plan. The
independent fiduciary has authority to manage the plan, distribute its
assets and terminate the plan.
The plan was sponsored by Storch Sheinbrot &
Singer Physicians until the medical practice was sold in February 2006
and became Bay Imaging. At that time, the former trustee of the plan
resigned and the new owner of the practice did not take responsibility
for overseeing the plan. Bay Imaging ceased operations in August 2006.
This situation left the plan’s participants, mostly
former employees of the medical practice, unable to access their
accounts. Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, employee
benefit plans must be managed by a fiduciary. In the absence of a plan
fiduciary, participants and beneficiaries cannot obtain plan information
or access accounts to make investments or collect retirement benefits.
As of December 2006, the plan had 50 participants and
$961,724.50 in assets. T. Rowe Price, Merrill Lynch and UBS Financial
Services are the custodians of the funds.
“When an employee benefit plan is abandoned, so are
the workers who invested in it,” said Jonathan Kay, regional director
in New York for the Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security
Administration (EBSA). “We took this legal action to ensure that the
plan is properly managed and its participants gain access to their
retirement assets.”
The suit resulted from an investigation by EBSA’s
regional office in New York City. Employers and workers can contact the
office at 212.607.8600 or call EBSA toll-free at 866.444.3272 for help
with problems relating to private sector pension and health plans. In
fiscal year 2007, EBSA achieved monetary results of $1.5 billion related
to pension, 401(k), health and other benefits for millions of American
workers and their families. Additional information can be found at
www.dol.gov/ebsa.
Chao v. Storch Sheinbrot & Singer Physicians PC
401(k) Plan & Trust
Civil Action Number: 1:07-CV-4880
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