Key Takeaways
- The Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) of the US Department of Labor (DOL) recently released its Fact Sheet: EBSA Restores Nearly $1.4 Billion to Employee Benefit Plans, Participants, and Beneficiaries: ebsa-monetary-recoveries.pdf
- The Fact Sheet describes the different EBSA programs that can recover money for participants, and the numbers are impressive.
- However, the Fact Sheet also has specific lessons for plan sponsors, fiduciaries and advisors.
The DOL’s EBSA has a number of programs that can restore benefits to plans and participants. Those include:
- Civil investigations.
- Criminal investigations.
- Informal compliant resolutions.
- Correction programs.
Civil investigations is the program that most concerns plan sponsors; however, criminal investigations are the most dramatic and can most severely impact the lives of “bad actors.” Last year the EBSA’s criminal investigation resulted in 161 guilty pleas or convictions. The bad acts go far beyond any mistakes that plan sponsors or fiduciaries could reasonably make. Think in terms of embezzlement and theft.
Continue reading Things I Worry About (7): DOL Investigations and Unsuspecting Plan Sponsors
