The U.S. Department of Labor has sued to replace Joseph Weinraub as fiduciary of a 401(k) plan at his defunct company, AMS Industries Inc.
The department alleges that Weinraub abandoned the plan, preventing its 26 members from receiving $206,000 in retirement funds due them, according to a federal lawsuit recently filed in Denver.
Weinraub was owner of AMS, a Denver janitorial-services firm that declared bankruptcy in 2003.
“There are instances where the business that sponsors the plan shuts down,” said Steve Eischen, regional director of the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s regional office in Kansas City, Mo. “No one is left to attend to the affairs of the plan.”
Plan custodians, the firms that hold and invest the retirement assets, can’t return the money without authorization from a fiduciary.
Efforts to reach Weinraub were unsuccessful. The Labor Department wants him barred from overseeing 401(k) plans in the future but does not allege fraud.
A new fiduciary should contact former AMS employees once Weinraub is replaced, Eischen said. Workers should always keep retirement-plan statements and maintain a close eye on a plan’s funds, especially if an employer is in financial trouble.
Employers and workers can reach EBSA’s Kansas City regional office toll-free at 866-444-3272 for help with problems relating to private-sector retirement and health plans.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
