Six executives with National Prearranged Services have been charged with wire, bank, mail and insurance fraud,as well as money laundering and multiple conspiracy charges, accused of ripping off Missourians who pre-paid for funeral services.
The federal prosecutor in St. Louis says losses from the scheme range from $450-to-600 million. The losses run deep. Prosecutors allege that the losses extend beyond those who purchased pre-paid funeral services. Funeral homes and state insurance guarantee associations also lost in the scheme.
Prosecutors accuse NPS of taking money that was to be deposited in a trust fund, shifted it for other uses and hid the transactions from insurance regulators. Prosecutors further contend that what money did get deposited in prearranged funeral trusts was used by Doug Cassity of Clayton for personal expenses. Cassity founded NPS in St. Louis.
Indicted along with Cassity are Randall Sutton of Chesterfield, Sharon Nekol Province of Ballwin, Brent Douglas Cassity of Clayton, Howard Wittner of Chesterfield, MO; and David Wulf of St. Louis County.
The US Attorney’s Office in St. Louis says the investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the Postal Inspection Service.
