More than $1.3 million will be distributed to former workers at a Dunwoody software company, after the company's former CEO settled a lawsuit brought by the federal government.
The case involves ANTs Software, which shut down in 2013. At that point, the company's last CEO, Rik Sanchez, was supposed to end the company’s 401k plan and distribute the funds. But ex-employees never got the money or any explanation why.
Credit: Lois Norder
Credit: Lois Norder
Some possible answers came to light last summer, when the U.S. Department of Labor sued Sanchez and ANTs Software.
The suit alleged that Sanchez told the plan’s administrator, Aspire Financial, to release the money to participants. But he then used his access to the plan to change the bank account information of participants to a bank account he controlled, the suit alleged.
Seeing the changes, Aspire refused to release the money.
Sanchez then asked Aspire to transfer management of the plan to a company called Renowned Holdings Inc. But that company, the DOL alleged, was controlled by Sanchez. Aspire didn’t go along with that, either.
Credit: Lois Norder
Credit: Lois Norder
Now, the money will finally be distributed to workers, the result of a federal court ruling last week in Atlanta. Judge William Duffey Jr. permanently barred Sanchez from serving as fiduciary or an employee of any employee benefit plan subject to the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act and ordered him to pay the expenses of a new independent fiduciary of the plan.
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