Archive for the ‘preneed sales’ Category

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White out was tool used in multimillion$$ funeral scam according to the FBI

White out was tool used in multimillion$$ funeral scam according to the FBI

A “funeral guy” has committed a multimillion dollar funeral crime using “White Out” a tool that many have in there home. Randall Sutton The President of National Prearranged Services(NPS) used White Out to alter documents to insurance policies and  steal millions. This is according to the Department Of Justice Press Release.

The NPS Funeral Scandal has cost 7 states up to 600  million dollars in State Guaranty Assurance payments. A  Civil Funeral Preneed Lawsuit has been filed in Federal Court to recover the money.

The President of  National Prearranged  Randall Sutton has been arrested and indicted. One of the tools used “was White Out” or Correction fluid  in the fraud scheme taking money from pre-need  policyholders and funeral homes.

From the FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation Press Release” :

“According to the indictment, beginning in 1998 and continuing until 2008, Sutton and others, defrauded National Prearranged Services’ customers, states’ guaranty funds, and funeral homes doing business with National Prearranged Services………For example, at the time they purchased prearranged funeral services, many customers completed applications for life insurance policies indicating they were making payment in full for insurance policies that would fund their funerals.

Employees at National Prearranged Services, with the knowledge and under the direction of Sutton, simply whited-out the indications that payments had been made in full and altered the documents to make it appear as though the customers had made partial payments. The altered documents were forwarded to life insurance companies such as Lincoln Memorial Life, who adopted the policies and assumed the obligation to pay a lump sum at the time of the customer’s death. National Prearranged Services, meanwhile, diverted the difference between the true full payments and the falsified partial payments from the customer’s insurance policy, thus retaining the vast majority of the customer’s lump-sum payment while transferring the obligation of future pay.

Funeral Industry |Funeral blog by yourfuneralguy



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Saturday, August 8th, 2009
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A cremation society is giving free teddy bears to hurt and dying kids. This is another promotion gone too far. The Teddy Bears are named after a Neptune Society customer who has been cremated. The  Teddy Bears are named on the one year anniversary of the persons death.

This is the same type of greed behind funeral and cemetery scandals. I found this in my local paper:

“The Neptune Society, the largest independent cremation company in the nation based in Des Plaines, is bringing comforting teddy bears to Chicago area children who are hurt, frightened or alone. The Neptune Society Teddy Bear Program names a teddy bear in honor of every person whose death care is handled by Neptune on the one-year anniversary of their death. The teddy bears are then donated to organizations such as Rainbow Hospice in Park Ridge and local fire departments to be given to a child in need.”

This type of marketing in death care is unacceptable. Even if it is a free give away.

They have had problems like this before. Several years ago they set out a mailer saying you could win a free cremation if you sent in a form with your contact information. This year they were fined 1.2 million in a preneed insurance scam by the State of Colorado.

This is deathcare gone too far. Where will it end?

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy.


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Friday, August 7th, 2009
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News Report interperted NFDA Survey incorrectly

News Report interperted NFDA Survey incorrectly

The News Report quoted in the last Blog post contains an error according to the National Funeral Directors Association. The reporter did not interpert the survey shared with him by the NFDA correctly.

Yesterday I received notification from Jessica Koth Spokesman for the NFDA that the report in the Bakesfield Californian.

The  Story should have read:

“A survey done recently by the association(NFDA) found that almost 50 percent of funeral directors nationwide saw a decrease in  (PRENEED) sales from 2007 to 2008.”

Pre-need sales are different from sales of regular funerals. Preneed sales refer to prearranged funerals where the funeral is paid for in advance.

Jessica Koth,NFDA issues Correction

Jessica Koth,NFDA issues Correction

Comment from Jessica Koth: “The reporter made an error in interpreting the survey report we shared with her.  The survey report showed that almost half of the respondents (48.9%) have experienced decreases in 2008 PRENEED sales compared to 2007.
We did not ask about over funeral sales in our survey – only preneed sales.
Jessica Koth
NFDA Public Relations Manager”

We always do everything possible to give you accurate information.

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy


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Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
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00000706The “Neptune Society” a cremation society where you can prepay your Funeral has been fined 1.2 million for insurance Fraud. The company was mishandling the funeral preneed funds of folks in the State of Colorado.

Colorado fined the Neptune Society For Insurance Violations

Colorado fined the Neptune Society For Insurance Violations

It would probably not be wise to do business with the “Neptune” folks. If you have a contract with these people it would be wise not to pay them a visit and ask them where your money is put away for your funeral or cremation.

From the Claims Journal

Colorado’s Division of Insurance has fined Neptune Management Corp., dba The Neptune Society $1.2 million for violating state insurance laws, the DOI reported. According to the DOI, one of the primary charges against Neptune was that the company inflated charges for funeral urns and other “merchandise” products, to reduce the quoted price for pre-need funeral services.

By law, 75 percent of the price for pre-need funeral services, including cremation, must be placed in trust until the services are used.Neptune agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1.2 million, for violating provisions of Colorado Insurance Law

Funeral Industry|Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy

Neptune Logo from ConnectingDirectors.com




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Friday, July 17th, 2009
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Funeral Scandals need to be reported in order to save you money

Funeral Scandals need to be reported in order to save you money

Funeral scandals need to be reported because it helps the consumer come in under the average cost of a funeral.It also makes the consumer aware  of ways they can keep funeral directors honest. Researching funeral scandal is quite a boring task . The bottom line is funeral scandals are good for you if are not a victim.

Service Corporation has had  an extraordinary amount of  scandals this year. There are excellent SCI Funeral Directors out there. Some are my friends. Reports in the press and other places indicate a corporate cultural problem at SCI. It may be in the core culture of SCI Management.

The problem  some believe goes to the outdated  business model as reflected in recent numbers. The problems need to continue to be reported and brought to public and funeral directors attention.

It will be a great day when the company corrects the problem or funeral directors through self or State Regulators make the corrections needed.

The Illinois funeral Directors Association Preneed Ponzi scheme (IFDA) and the National Prearranged Services fraud have been blogged about because reporting on preneed scandals makes folks aware of the perils of preneed.  It helps people lower their

Dont throw your Money down the grave-Avoid funeral scandal.

Dont throw your Money down the grave-Avoid funeral scandal.

funeral costs and come in under the average cost of a funeral.

For these  reasons, it is best to make folks aware of reports in the press.

SCI 5 Scandals reported in the press this year

Funeral Industry| Funeral Blog by Your Funeral Guy.


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Saturday, May 30th, 2009
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