Citigroup Fined 1.5 Million In Funeral Preneed Trust Case|YourFuneralGuy

Citigroup was fined 1.5 million in a Funeral Preneed Trust Case. The branch of Citigroup Fined was Citigroup Global Markets. The case  involves  the jailed Clayton Smart, and the Citigroup Broker Mark Singer, Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis and Michigan.

This case involved preneed cemetery trusts.

Snippet.

Penalties of $1.5 million have been levied against Citigroup for supervisory violations related to its handling of millions of dollars in trust funds belonging to Forest Hill cemeteries in Memphis and Michigan.

The penalties — including a $750,000 fine and forfeiture of $750,000 in commissions — were imposed Wednesday by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority against Citigroup Global Markets Inc., whose broker is accused of theft and money laundering here.

The commissions will be returned to the cemetery trusts as partial restitution.

“Firms have a duty to protect customer funds by taking prompt and meaningful action when they encounter indications of possible fraud or misappropriation,” said FINRA official James S. Shorris in Washington. “That duty is particularly critical when firms handle trust funds where the beneficiaries may be unsophisticated investors who are unaware of how the funds are being handled.”

via www.commercialappeal.com

Funeral Industry|Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Guaranteed Funeral Preneed Insurance still Dead-Don’t Buy-Your Funeral Guy.

Guaranteed Preneed Insurance is still dead. Be sure not to buy it. They may tell you you can lock in today’s prices for Your Funeral- It is simply not true.

It is a lie courtesy of many Funeral Directors and Funeral | Cemetery Providers.

Who shot preneed?

The American consumer has been indoctrinated since 1972- YOU CAN LOCK IN TODAY’S  PRICES FOR YOUR FUNERAL BabyBoomers still want this. Funeral Directors want to give it to the Consumers. It is called the prepaid funeral.

Problem#1-The guarantee is gone! It does not exist.

Problem #2-Funeral Prices could go down

With the Wall Street Meltdown and  current job and economic crisis  “NO ONE ANYWHERE CAN GUARANTEE ANY INVESTMENT.

Buyer beware. Making this investment  purchase assumes funeral prices will always go up. With the rise of Cremation-and the continuing collapse of the traditional funeral industry-FUNERAL PRICES COULD GO DOWN!

Your relatives or significant others can negotiate down your funeral cost at the time of your funeral.

Click Here to See Who Shot Preneed.When purchasing funeral or cemetery preneed the funeral or cemetery provider and|or the insurance company gets the interest on Your Money.

Prepaying for anything funeral or cemetery is not wise in the current economic environment.

This is an Original Your Funeral Guy Post with funeral cost advice on coming in under the average cost of a funeral

Funeral Industry|Funeral News|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal|Sheriff’s Database complete-yourfuneralguy

The County Sheriff has completed the Database for Burr Cemetery. This means that families can determine if there loved ones are located there by searching for a grave. This increases the possibility that the Cemetery may reopen soon. There has been no date announced.

The Burr Oak  Cemetery Scandal was discovered in 2009. There were  nearly three hundred graves disturbed and bones discarded and piled up around  the cemetery. Four People were arrested.

You can get help at the the Burr Oak Website :www.burroak.net

Funeral Industry Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Burr oak cemetery pic from religion dispatches.org

Indiana Funeral home|cemetery scam $24 million-yourfuneralguy

Indiana and Funeral home and cemetery scam yielded 24 million Dollars.

An Indiana Cemetery owner is to plead guilty to Fraud on Monday. His Cemetery and funeral scam covered six states: Hawaii, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Iowa and Tennessee. Only Indiana and Tennessee have prosecuted Mr.Nelms in his preneed trust fund schemes.

In the Indiana Scheme  Nelms and his wife siphoned away 24 million. His wife agreed to testify against him in return for immunity from  prosecution.

From the Indianapolis Business Journal:

“The couple bought the Indianapolis-based cemetery and funeral home business for $27 million in December 2004.

Within days, the couple allegedly drained all $24 million from their newly acquired company’s trust fund, which was supposed to be used to maintain grave sites in numerous cemeteries.”

One property involved is Forest Lawns Memory Gardens, cemetery and funeral home in Greenwood, Indiana. The company involved Memory Gardens Management Corp.

Funeral Industry | Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy.

Indiana  map Pic from Wikipedia

AS A CONSUMER AT A FUNERAL HOME OR CEMETERY YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BE SURE WHO YOU ARE DEALING WITH.

Burr oak Cemetery Scandal:Preneed Contracts will have to be honored.-yourfuneralguy

Sometime in the future, burials will happen again at Burr Oak Cemetery.

Although the Burr Oak Cemetery is closed as a crime scene there will come a time that burials will have to continue. Preneed Contracts held by the cemetery will have to be honored. It does seem a little far off considering that the headstones visible at the cemetery are not all put up on the website.

So far there is no accounting of the desecrated graves at the  Cook County Sheriff’s website:www.burroak.net

Sheriff Dart has stated that it will  be several weeks before the listing of the headstones that are present at the cemetery will be complete.

At that time grave desecrations can be addressed that are not being handled  in lawsuits.

Another cemetery in Illinois has  had  had their licenses removed and closed have to conduct burials.This is Valley View Cemetery in Edwardsville,Illinois.  From thetelegraph.com

“They have a responsibility to the people they have sold these pre-need burial contracts, said Carol Knowles, a spokeswoman for the comptroller….burials have taken place with the volunteer help of former employees.
More burials are scheduled for the next few days.”

There is no word whether burials are being conducted at Burr Oak Cemetery now or in the future.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog By Your Funeral Guy

Burr oak cemetery pic from religion dispatches.org

Burr Oak Cemetery:2 other Illinois cemeteries licenses revoked-YourFuneralGuy

Burr Oak Cemetery is not the only Cemetery in Illinois to have it’s license revoked. It has happened at two other cemeteries in Illinois.  Mount Hope Cemetery in Bellvue, Il and Valley View Cemetery in Edwardsville, Illinois.

It had been reported(7.16.09) that the cemeteries were shut down. From www.bnd.com

“The comptroller’s office last year reported that more than $300,000 was missing from more than 450 prepaid burial accounts at the two cemeteries. People visiting those buried at the cemeteries have complained about overgrown grass and weeds and damaged headstones.”

The problem with revoking a Cemetery License like Burr Oak Cemetery in Illinois is that there are still burials to be made. Funerals need to happen in a timely fashion.  When a Funeral Home license is revoked the Funeral Home is closed. But when a cemetery license is revoked preneed contracts  are no longer sold   at that cemetery in Illinois.

The preneed contracts on the books  have to be honored. Burials will need to continue at Burr Oak, Mount Hope, and Valley View Cemetery.

A hearing is set for AUG 4th, 2009 By the Illinois Comptroller  to show cause for revocation of license.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy.

Source

Funeral Preneed is Dead Even in the Richest Towns-YourFuneralGuy.

A Preneed Funeral Arrangement is a contract, it is not wise to participate

Funeral preneed is dead and in need of a burial. This is true even in the richest cities and towns. The main reason is that no honest funeral director will say that you can lock in today’s prices 1, 2, or 10 years from now. In the Uncertain economy the pitch given for 30 years in the funeral industry has become a lie.  If a funeral director or preneed specialist(counselor) tells you that prices are “locked in” get up and leave.

Even In the posh suburbs of Chicago Preneed sales are scant.

From  Naperville the plush Chicago Suburb.

“Stephanie Jones-Kastelic, co-owner of Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home, said the number of prepay{PRE NEED} packages purchased is going down.

In previous years, financially well-off couples in their 70s and 80s would come to the funeral home to pre-purchase funeral packages so their children or family would not have to cover the costs. This year, Jones-Kastelic said, she sees very few of those couples, and most of her pre-pay customers are seniors about to go on Medicare who want to spend their own money on the expense, which Medicare does not cover.”-THE NAPERVILLE SUN

The Funeral Preneed Scandals have been massive in the last several years:Illinois Funeral Directors Association  (IFDA up to 100 Million), National Prearranged Services(NPS over 1 Billion), Wade Funeral Home, Burr Oak Cemetery-many more.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Source: THE NAPERVILLE SUN and the Funeral Experience of Your Funeral Guy.

House Panel to Propose Federal Cemetery Legislation-YourfuneralGuy

A US House Panel will propose National Cemetery Legislation

The  US House subcommittee( Panel) meeting in response to the Burr Oak Cemetery Scandal stated that they will propose National Cemetery Legislation. The subcommittee met in the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago.

Here is a brief summary of what happened.

1. The Comptroller of the State of Illinois Dan Hynes stated that cemetery law is inconsistent in the State. Right now the Comptroller only regulates financial matters(including pre need contracts)

2. Joshua Slocum the head of The (FCA) Funeral Consumers Alliance stated that Cemetery Regulation is Inconsistent across the United States of America.. and that there needs to be clear Rules. Slocum and the FCA are clear cut advocates for cemetery and Funeral Reform reform.

3. US Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. Stated that cemetery plots should be deeded. That would eliminate future Burr Oak Cemetery Scandals. This is an excellent proposal.

4. The Reverend Jesse Jackson stated that cemeteries should provide online plot information.

The United States Congress Congressional Subcommittee Was Formed By Congressman Bobby Rush.

Opposition is expected from SCI (Service Corporation International ) and STEI (Stewart Enterprises International) The two largest funeral corporations that hold  also own a significant number of cemeteries.

Generally different regulations exist for religious, private and city cemeteries.

Odds are legislation would lower the average cost of a funeral.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy.

Source Chicago Tribune

MORE INFO:

Bobby Rush to propose Cemetery Legislation