Welcome to the Mona Vie ESOP Settlement Website
This website has been established to provide general information related to the preliminarily approved of the proposed Settlement of the action Jessop v. Larsen, et al., Civil No. 2:14-cv-00916, and the resulting Settlement Fund. The capitalized terms used on this website, and not otherwise defined, shall have the same meanings ascribed to them in the Class Action Settlement Agreement dated November 11, 2016 (the "Settlement Agreement"), which can be found and downloaded by clicking on the Case Documents tab above.
UPDATE: At the direction of Fiduciary Counselors, on April 1, 2019, almost all funds remaining in the Mona Vie, Inc. ESOP (the "ESOP") were transferred to IRAs at Retirement Clearinghouse (“RCH”) in Charlotte, NC. These IRAs are for all participants who either (1) did not receive a distribution of amounts allocated to them or (2) did receive a distribution but did not cash their checks before the checks became stale.
If you were eligible for a distribution and have not yet received your distribution from the ESOP or cashed your distribution check, you will receive a welcome kit from RCH with details about the IRA that has been set up in your name. If you prefer not to wait to receive the welcome kit from RCH, you can contact RCH directly at 888-600-7655. A notice regarding the rollovers to RCH, which includes a copy of the Final Report of the Independent Fiduciary and the Court's Order on the report, can be found here.
CASE BACKGROUND: This is a certified class action pending before the Honorable Bruce S. Jenkins in the United States District Court for the District of Utah Central Division. The Court appointed Bailey & Glasser LLP and Magleby & Greenwood, P.C. as Class Counsel.
The class action is brought by Plaintiff Kelly Jessop on behalf of participants and beneficiaries of the Mona Vie, Inc. ("Mona Vie") Employee Stock Ownership Plan (“Mona Vie ESOP”) alleging that Defendants Bankers Trust Company (and/or Bankers Trust Company of South Dakota, collectively “BTC”), Dallin Larsen, Randy Larsen, and Henry Marsh (the “Individual Defendants”) violated the Employee Retirement Security Income Act of 1974 ("ERISA") and breached their fiduciary duties in connection with the purchase of Mona Vie stock by the Mona Vie ESOP on or about November 17, 2010 (“the 2010 Transaction”) for $186 Million. Specifically, Plaintiff alleges that BTC violated ERISA, because BTC: (1) caused or permitted the Mona Vie ESOP to engage in the transaction without undertaking an appropriate investigation of the 2010 Transaction as proposed; (2) was aware of facts or should have known facts evidencing that the 2010 Transaction was imprudent and not in the best interest of the ESOP’s participants and beneficiaries; (3) caused or permitted the ESOP to take on excessive debt in the transaction; (4) engaged in the 2010 Transaction without regarding the conflicts of interested parties who assisted it in the 2010 Transaction; and (5) did nothing to cure the overpayment by the ESOP for its shares. Plaintiff also alleges that the Individual Defendants violated their fiduciary duties under ERISA by participating in the 2010 Transaction and not taking prudent steps in the selection of BTC as trustee for the ESOP. Plaintiff also alleges that the Individual Defendants are parties-in-interest under ERISA who knowingly participated in the breaches of fiduciary duty committed by BTC. The United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) has also investigated the 2010 Transaction.
BTC and the Individual Defendants deny liability to all of these allegations; deny that these allegations are true; and have vigorously defended themselves in the Lawsuit. BTC and the Individual Defendants do not admit wrongdoing of any kind regarding the Mona Vie ESOP, 2010 Transaction or the Lawsuit.
To avoid the additional expense of continuing the Lawsuit and the uncertainty of the outcome of the Lawsuit, Plaintiff and Defendants have agreed to a Settlement that involves monetary payments to Plan participants.
The proposed Settlement will result in the creation of a $19.8 million Settlement Fund.
The Settlement Agreement proposes a class action settlement that would cover and be binding on the following certified class of individuals (the “Class”): All individuals who were participants in the Mona Vie, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan at any time on or after November 17, 2010, to the date of judgment and their beneficiaries, but excluding the individual defendants, Dallin Larsen, Henry Marsh and Randy Larsen and any beneficiary claiming directly through them.
If you are included in the above definition of the Class, you are included in the Class. The Class is mandatory and you cannot opt-out.
Although the information in this website is intended to assist you, it does not replace the information contained in the Notice of Class Action Settlement or the Settlement Agreement, both of which can be downloaded from the Case Documents tab above.