Syracuse, NY -- The U.S. Department of Labor today accused J.P. Jeanneret Associates Inc., of Syracuse, its executives, and three other investment companies and executives, of causing pension, health and benefit plans to lose hundreds of millions of dollars through investments with Bernard L. Madoff. The lawsuit was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District...
John Jeanneret. The Post-Standard file photo by Mike GreenlarSyracuse, NY -- The U.S. Department of Labor today accused J.P. Jeanneret Associates Inc., of Syracuse, its executives, and three other investment companies and executives, of causing pension, health and benefit plans to lose hundreds of millions of dollars through investments with Bernard L. Madoff.
The lawsuit was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. If successful, it would return money to thousands of workers in Central New York workers who had money in union pension plans that invested with Jeanneret, a Syracuse investment firm.
The suit names Beacon Associates Management Corp., Andover Associates Management Corp., Ivy Asset Management LLC, and J.P. Jeanneret Associates Inc.
It names Jeanneret executives John P. Jeanneret and Paul Perry, Joel Danziger and Harris Markhoff of Beacon and Andover, as well as Lawrence Simon and Howard Wohl of Ivy. Read the 73-page lawsuit
Jeanneret did not return a phone call this afternoon seeking comment. His firm managed investments for plans covering 60,000 workers in Central New York.
His firm is being sued by unions representing 21 locals seeking to recover some of the $150 million they lost.
Earlier this year, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo also sued Ivy over the pension fund losses. The state’s suit does not name Jeanneret; the complaint suggests he was mislead by Ivy.
Jeanneret and the other defendants provided advice and investment services to the plans, in some cases stretching back to the 1980s.
The federal Department of Labor suit alleges the defendants violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by recommending, making and maintaining investments with Madoff. It resulted in the loss of millions of dollars in plan assets, the Department of Labor said.
It alleges the defendants failed to take prudent action to investigate or monitor Madoff, and that they failed to protect the plans interests while collecting millions in fees for themselves as a result of the Madoff investments.
Madoff was arrested in December 2008 on charges he ran a $65 billion pyramid scheme.
He pleaded guilty to securities fraud, investment adviser fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, false statements, perjury, false filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and theft from an employee benefit plan.
He is serving a 150-year prison sentence. The government has auctioned or sold his multi-million-dollar homes and possessions to repay investors.