The U.S. Department of Labor has sued RVNB Holdings Inc., a moving and storage company based in Carrollton, Texas, in an effort to recover $35 million from an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) that allegedly was used to benefit board members and their families, the department announced in a news release.
According to the department's complaint, three members of RVNB's board of directors and a trustee of the company's ESOP permitted the sale of an ESOP ownership interest for less than its market value in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
“U.S. Department of Labor files suit against Carrollton company board members and trustee,” AdventHealth HR leader Amber Deese Owens said on Twitter.
The lawsuit was filed against Neil Brozen, trustee of RVNB Holdings Inc.'s ESOP, and board members Robert Peterson, Vasilia Peterson and Paul Generale after an investigation conducted by the Employee Benefits Security Administration.
According to the department's lawsuit, Brozen, the Petersons and Generale allegedly violated their fiduciary duties when Brozen sold the ESOP's stock for less than its market value.
Additionally, the lawsuit includes the Peterson children's 2012 irrevocable trusts, alleging the two trusts established to support the Petersons' children were complicit in ERISA violations and unlawfully received millions of funds intended for the ESOP.
