A court has issued an arrest warrant for Bryan Hill, the owner of the now-defunct Baltimore company Bicallis LLC, after repeated failures to restore $153,000 to the company's employee 401(k) plan. This decision follows multiple court orders and deadlines that Hill failed to comply with.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore ordered Hill's civil confinement on June 27, 2024. However, due to continued non-compliance, the court issued an arrest warrant on September 25, 2024.
An investigation by the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration revealed that from October 2017 through December 2019, Bicallis LLC and its owner violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. They failed to forward employees' payroll deductions for their 401(k) plan and did not collect company matching and safe harbor contributions owed to the plan.
On May 6, 2022, a consent judgment required Bicallis LLC and Hill to pay $151,942 by December 2022. This amount included missing contributions and interest as well as costs for appointing an independent fiduciary. After defaulting on this judgment, the department filed a motion for contempt which was granted on June 27, 2023. The court then imposed a daily fine of $100 until full payment was made.
To avoid further hearings and penalties requested by the department on September 13, 2023, Hill agreed to a consent order forfeiting $388,458 in assets due to him and his ex-wife. Despite these measures, neither Hill nor Bicallis LLC paid what was owed or remitted funds to the plan's independent fiduciary appointed by the court.
The court set a final deadline of September 20, 2024 for Hill either to pay all restitution or self-surrender for civil confinement. With his failure to meet this deadline confirmed on September 25th, an arrest warrant was subsequently issued.
“We hope that Hill will finally restore the money owed to the company’s employee 401(k) plan and comply with the law,” said Cristina O’Brien from Philadelphia’s Employee Benefits Security Administration Regional Office.
Samantha Thomas from Philadelphia's Regional Solicitor's Office added: “The court’s arrest warrant for Bryan Hill after his continued disregard for the law demonstrates that the U.S. Department of Labor will use all litigation tools including civil confinement to hold violators like him legally accountable.”
Bicallis LLC was a logistics, engineering and management support services company based in Baltimore which ceased operations in early-2022.
