A Twin Cities firm was ordered to reimburse employees for money it deducted from paychecks but never forwarded to a company retirement fund, according to a federal court decision in favor of the U.S. Department of Labor that was made public this month. Copy Cat Business Systems Inc., an office equipment company that closed in 2007, and its former owners, Susan and Joel Blackford, must repay $13,219 in contributions and interest. The court decided the Blackfords used the contributions for operating expenses. The judge rejected Joel Blackford's defense that since he was not a fiduciary or manager of the plan, he was not responsible for plan losses. The court cited case law that also holds responsible those with control over the plan. Read more here.
Business owners kept IRA funds
Copy Cat Business System used employee contributions for operating expenses.
January 25, 2011 at 4:18PM
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Jane Friedmann
It’s too soon to tell how much the immigration crackdown is to blame.
