The fiduciaries of a Chesterton business have been ordered by a U.S. District Judge to reimburse employees who voluntary 401(k) contributions were withheld from their pay, the U.S. Department of Labor said.

According to a statement released on Thursday, Pat Mowery and Cheryl Sloan, fiduciaries for Accucast Technology’s 401(k) and health plan, were accused of failing to ensure that employee contributions were forwarded to the plan.

A federal judge subsequently entered a consent order and judgment, under which Mowery and Sloan shall pay $5,270.88 to the participants in Accucast Technology’s 401(k) plan, “which includes employee contributions and $225.75 in lost opportunity cost,” the statement said.

“These moneys shall be paid to plan participants who had voluntary employee contributions to the 401(k) plan withheld from their pay during the period of Feb. 27, 2009, through Dec. 18, 2009, who have not received a distribution of their full vested account balance as of the date of the consent order,” the statement added.

“Mowery and Sloan shall ensure that any individuals with remaining individual accounts with the 401(k) plan have their account balances distributed to them within 45 days of the judgment,” the statement added.

Posted 10/5/2012