GE DC plan participants lose $286 million on company stock amid fraud claim

Common shares of General Electric fell 11.3% Thursday after former Bernie Madoff whistleblower Harry Markopolos said he found accounting irregularities in the company's financials at the behest of an unnamed hedge fund. According to the company's latest filing, about 281 million shares were held in its $27 billion retirement savings plan and Thursday's fall would equate to a $286 million loss. Through the first half of August, the stock has lost $685 million for the defined contribution plan, and while the market has been down during the month, GE's decline has lagged the S&P 500 by 14.4% as of Friday morning.

Last September, General Electric reported to Pensions & Investments that 11% of its defined contribution assets was invested in company stock, on par with other corporate DC plans in the P&I database. That number has declined significantly in recent years; the company reported in 2012 that 43% of plan assets were in GE stock, and 25% as recently as September 2017.