ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, March 7, 1996                TAG: 9603070030
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-8  EDITION: METRO  

IN BUSINESS

401(k) cheaters given a chance at amnesty

WASHINGTON - Employers who have tapped their workers' 401(k) retirement savings can avoid prosecution if they return the money by September under a government plan announced Wednesday by Labor Secretary Robert Reich.

The amnesty program is designed to avoid lengthy judicial proceedings.

About 22 million workers have a total of $880 billion in 401(k) plans, the Labor Department estimates. Employers are allowed 90 days to deposit money withheld from workers' paychecks into the appropriate account.

But some cash-strapped businesses dip into those funds. The Labor Department has investigated 602 cases in which theft was suspected; it closed 188 of them, netting $5 million in payments.

To avoid litigation or prosecution, employers must stop diverting payments by early April, file sworn statements detailing why the payments were not made on time and certify repayment by Sept. 7.

- Associated Press

Martinsville factory to take on 2nd plant

American of Martinsville, a division of High Point, N.C.-based Ladd Furniture Inc., will take over the Chilhowie plant that once produced furniture for Ladd's Lea Industries, the company said Wednesday.

American of Martinsville, which makes wood and upholstered furniture for hotels and other institutional customers, had run the Chilhowie plant until 1993, when a slump in the hotel industry led to downsizing. The change will not affect jobs at either Lea or American.

-Staff repor

Patrick Henry bank to spin off branches

Patrick Henry National Bank has filed applications to spin off its offices at Galax and Hillsville as Mountain National Bank and its offices at Lexington, Staunton and Waynesboro as Shenandoah National Bank.

Patrick Henry will retain four offices in the Martinsville-Henry County area and its branch at Stuart.

Worth Harris Carter Jr., chairman, said an earlier application for an office in Eden, N.C., has been approved by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. An application also has been filed for an office in Reidsville, N.C.

Carter said the new banks will operate with the same services and employees. "Other than new signs," he said, "our customers will see no difference."

- Staff report

Briefly ...

The two largest real estate firms in Martinsville and Henry County, Rives S. Brown Inc. and Right Mark Realty, plan to merge, creating a sales team of 37 agents, 25 of whom have been million-dollar sellers. Each firm will work out of its present site for now.

Speedway Motorsports Inc., a Concord, N.C., operator of stock car racing tracks in Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; and Bristol, Tenn., said it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a proposal to sell 3.1 million shares of stock to the public this month or in April. Speedway plans a stock split March 18 and will base the price of the new shares on the price of existing shares after the split.

LENGTH: Medium:   67 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  (headshot) Reich.