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Release Date: 08/30/2002
Release Number: V-326
Contact Name: Rita Ford
Phone Number: 202.693.8671
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Minneapolis, Minnesota - David Kosmecki and Kathleen
Andrusko,
trustees of the Simple IRA plan for ASM of Minnesota (ASM), in Minneapolis, were
permanently barred from serving any employee benefit plan covered under federal
pension law in a consent order and judgment obtained on August 20, by the U.S.
Department of Labor. The order and judgment also requires the trustees to
restore $2,674.36 to the Simple IRA plan. |
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“This action reaffirms our commitment to protect
the hard-earned benefits promised by employers,” said Gregory Egan, director of the
department’s Kansas City Regional Office of the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration
(PWBA). |
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A suit simultaneously filed with the order and judgment
alleges from January 1998 to December 1999 Kosmecki and Andrusko, also owners of
ASM, violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by failing to
forward to the plan money withheld from ASM employees’ paychecks for
contribution to the plan and retaining the money in the company’s assets where
it was used to pay corporate operating expenses. |
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ASM is a mortgage company located in Maple Grove,
Minnesota,
which was founded in 1993 by Kosmecki and Andrusko. They established the
plan in January 1998 to provide retirement benefits to their employees. |
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Regional Director Gregory Egan noted that employers with
similar problems, who are not yet the subject of an investigation by PWBA, may
be eligible to participate in the Department’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction
Program (VFCP). Participation in the VFCP requires employers to make
workers whole but allows them to avoid PWBA enforcement actions and civil
penalties as well as applicable excise taxes. |
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“The VFCP gives sponsors a way to come into compliance
with ERISA by restoring workers’ benefits while avoiding an investigation by
PWBA,” said Egan. “It protects workers’ health and retirement
benefits and allows us to focus our resources on those who seek to avoid
compliance.” |
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For more information about the VFCP see www.dol.gov/pwba. |
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The consent order and judgment were entered in the
federal district court in Minneapolis, Minnesota. |
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The Kansas City Regional Office of PWBA conducted the
investigation. Employers and workers can contact the regional office at
816.426.5131 or PWBA’s Toll-Free Employee & Employer Hotline number,
1.866.275.7922, for help with any
problems relating to private-sector pension and health plans.
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(Chao v. David Kosmecki et al
Civil Action No. 02-CV-2937) |
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U.S. Department of Labor
news releases are accessible on the Internet. The information in this news
release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large
print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the Central Office for Assistive
Services and Technology. Please specify which news release when placing
your request. Call 202.693.7773 or TTY 202.693.7775. |
