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Release Date: September 22, 2008
Release Number: 08-1331-BOS/BOS 2008-265
Contact Name: John M. Chavez
Phone Number: 617.565.2075
Boston – A federal judge has ordered G.
Conway Inc. of Boston and corporate officers Gerard D. Conway and Robert
Conway to repay $72,803 to the company’s 401(k) plan to resolve a
lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Labor that alleged violations of
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the
District of Massachusetts, alleged that the defendants failed to forward
to the plan employee contributions withheld from employees’ paychecks
between April 23, 2005, and May 12, 2007. Instead, the defendants
allegedly used the withheld employee contributions to satisfy the
obligations of the company.
The G. Conway Inc. 401(k) and Profit Sharing Plan
provides retirement benefits for company employees. The company is no
longer in business. The Labor Department’s Employee Benefits Security
Administration’s (EBSA) Boston Regional Office investigated the case.
James Benages, regional director for EBSA’s Boston
office, said, “These defendants failed to discharge their fiduciary
duties to the plan and its participants. The assets of employee benefit
plans are to be used for the sole benefit of plan participants and
beneficiaries, not for the benefit of the company that sponsors the
plan.”
The consent judgment obtained by the Labor Department
orders the defendants to pay the restitution, properly distribute the
assets of the plan to plan participants and beneficiaries, and terminate
the plan. Gerard D. Conway also is permanently prohibited from serving
as a fiduciary to any ERISA-covered plan.
Employers and workers can reach EBSA at 617.565.9600
or toll-free at 866.444.3272 for help with problems relating to private
sector retirement 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. Gerard D. Conway
Civil Action Number 1:08-CV-10646-GAO
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