Federal department sues Pamplin over pension fraud

The U.S. Department of Labor has filed a lawsuit against Robert Pamplin Jr. and his company, R.B. Pamplin Corp. The lawsuit accuses Pamplin of violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by conducting over 100 real estate transactions that benefited him and his company at the expense of pensioners. The complaint asserts that Pamplin used a highly deficient and imprudent process to transfer real properties to the R.B. Pamplin Corporation & Subsidiaries Pension Plan. This led to severe financial harm. The Department of Labor is demanding that Pamplin restore the losses to the pension plan, remedy other harms, and be permanently barred from acting as a trustee of a pension fund. Pamplin operated in a dual role that allowed him to conduct these transactions with little oversight. As CEO of R.B. Pamplin Corp., he acted as the seller of the properties. As trustee of the pension plan, he acted as the buyer. This conflict of interest is cited as a significant violation of ERISA, which aims to protect the interests of pension plan participants. For instance, Pamplin sold Ross Island to the pension fund without properly documenting the transaction or accounting for substantial environmental liabilities.

Pension fraud lawsuit against Pamplin

The lawsuit claims that Pamplin’s actions resulted in the pension plan acquiring over 50 percent of its assets in employer-owned real property. This breached fiduciary duties and violated ERISA regulations. The Department of Labor’s complaint outlines various ways in which the pension plan’s investments were imprudent. It highlights issues like unpaid property taxes, liens, and environmental remediation costs. It also criticizes leasing arrangements that were overly favorable to R.B. Pamplin Corp. and its subsidiaries, leading to significant overdue lease payments. The lawsuit seeks compensation for pensioners, who suffered due to imprudent and risky investments in low-value real estate instead of more stable stocks and bonds. The Department of Labor calls for Pamplin and his company to restore the pension plan’s losses with interest and potentially rescind prohibited transactions. Robert Pamplin Jr. could not be reached for comment. The implications of these ongoing legal issues on his business enterprises were not immediately clear. Further updates on the lawsuit and its impacts on the employees and the company are expected as the legal process unfolds.