A Michigan resident has stolen greater than $1 million from tons of of people that paid cash upfront to safe the funeral preparations of their family members.
Terry Kaufman, the director of Kaufman and Firm Funeral House, pleaded no contest to 39 felony counts involving embezzlement and associated expenses after operating a pay as you go funeral scheme, reviews MLive.
Pay as you go funeral plans are supposed to assist households cowl future funeral prices upfront and keep away from surprising bills after a beloved one dies.
The cash is usually positioned in escrow or tied to specialised insurance coverage insurance policies.
Kaufman bought each varieties of preparations.
Authorities say Kaufman acquired a complete of $1,111,165 from victims and observe that the funds had been diverted for private use over 10 years. The operation focused 204 residents, together with 55 people underneath county guardianship, and spanned roughly a decade.
Officers found the fraud after a ward died and investigators discovered no escrow deposits or legitimate insurance coverage insurance policies for the collected funds.
The director accepted funds from the Huron County Public Guardian’s Workplace totaling greater than $218,000, however he didn’t deposit the funds or purchase official insurance coverage insurance policies.
Says Huron County Public Guardian Jacilyn Braun,
“There have been many individuals who trusted him. He was an upstanding member of the neighborhood, and he abused his respect from the individuals and his respect from our workplace.”
A decide imposed a sentence of at the very least seven years in jail together with an order to repay roughly $1.1 million, however the restoration of the cash stays unlikely.
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