Think Yates will do it again?
Denver, Colorado - The former owners of Vancol Industries Inc. of Denver must pay more than $150,000 to the company’s profit sharing plan as restitution for improper loans made from the plan to the company’s owners, plan participants and affiliated companies, according to a consent judgment obtained by the U.S. Department of Labor.
A manufacturer and distributor of soft drinks and sport beverages, Vancol sponsored the plan for approximately 76 participants. The profit sharing plan had no assets as of August 24, 2006.
…
Under the judgment, former co-owners Robert E. Yates Jr. and Renald R. Berggren were ordered to repay $150,553 to the plan and permanently barred from service to any plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in the future. Entered in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, the judgment removes Yates as plan trustee and appoints an independent fiduciary to manage the plan, collect the restitution and terminate the plan. Benefits will be distributed to all eligible participants except Yates and Berggren.
The department’s suit, filed August 28, 2006, alleged that Yates and Berggren violated ERISA when they made loans with plan assets to themselves that were never repaid and approved loans to business affiliates of the company and plan participants that were not fully repaid to the plan.
AI
