EBSA FY 2008 Enforcement Reaps $1.2B, 101 Indictments

According to an EBSA news release, the agency also closed 3,570 civil investigations in FY 2008 with violations being found and corrective action being taken in more than 75% of the cases. The agency recovered $139.2 million for workers and their families through informal resolution of individual complaints.  

During the last eight years, EBSA tallies show, the agency achieved cumulative monetary results of $11.9 billion for pension and other employee benefits plans. During that same time, 907 individuals were indicted for crimes related to employee benefit plans.  

“EBSA has aggressively pursued its core mission of enforcement, producing record recoveries for employee benefits plans and millions of American workers, retirees and their families,” declared Bradford P. Campbell, assistant secretary of labor for the EBSA, in the news release. “The success of the program is the result of a tough enforcement program balanced with compliance assistance activities that help plan sponsors comply with the law, giving the agency the ability to focus its resources on offenders.”

EBSA also said its   Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) recovered more than $449 million for employee benefit plans and received 6,393 applications from 2001 to 2008.   In fiscal year 2008, the compliance assistance program received 1,658 applications from employers, plan officials, service providers and other fiduciaries to self-correct violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and $8.7 million was voluntarily restored to employee benefit plans.  

More information is available at  http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fsFY08results.html .