Former St. Charles Nissan dealership owner must restore more than $13K in worker retirement contributions

The former owner of Nissan of St. Charles, which is no longer in business, has agreed to pay nearly $14,000 in restitution to employees whose individual retirement accounts were improperly shorted salary deferral contributions, according to court records.

Fred Vargason has agreed to withdraw $13,772 from his personal retirement account to repay the money missing from employees' individual retirement accounts, according to a judgment entered Monday in the Northern District of Illinois.

Judge Robert W. Gettleman entered the order against Nissan of St. Charles and company owner Vargason.

According to the court record, the defendants did not oppose the decision.

"All voluntary employee contributions must be forwarded to employee benefit plans in a timely manner," Employee Benefits Security Administration Regional Director Ruben R. Chapa in Chicago said in a news release. "Failing to do so, denies employees the opportunity to prepare for the future."

The U.S. Secretary of Labor filed suit on April 8, 2022, after the department's Employee Benefits Security Administration found the company and Vargason did not remit employees' voluntary salary contributions to the company's retirement plan, the release stated.

The amount represents $13,071 in employee contributions that were not forwarded to the plan and $651 in lost opportunity costs for Nissan of St. Charles employees who made voluntary contributions from Jan. 1 through Jan. 31, 2019.

The Illinois Secretary of State Police shut down Vargason's Nissan dealership on Feb. 1, 2019, following hundreds of complaints that customers had not received the titles and plates for their vehicles.

A message left with an attorney representing Vargason, who now lives in Iowa, was not returned.