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7/13/09 - HYNES EXPANDS REVOCATION EFFORT AGAINST BURR OAK OWNER
FREEZES FUNDS AND SETS HEARING DATE
Comptroller Dan Hynes today expanded the revocation proceedings against the owner of historic Burr Oak Cemetery, Perpetua Holdings of Illinois, Inc., and is freezing its trust funds.
"Given the unconscionable discovery at Burr Oak, I don’t want to take a chance that similar circumstances could be occurring under Perpetua’s management at its other Illinois cemetery," Hynes said. "The fraud and betrayal of consumers by Burr Oak’s employees warrant the revocation of all of Perpetua’s licenses."
The revocation actions will remove Perpetua's authority to accept funds for the care of a cemetery and to conduct pre-need cemetery and funeral sales at Cedar Park Cemetery, 12540 South Halsted St., Calumet Park; as well as Burr Oak Cemetery near Alsip.
Hynes also ordered the trust funds for Burr Oak and Cedar Park cemeteries frozen.
Pre-need funds are monies consumers pay to funeral homes and cemeteries for goods and services for future death-care needs and are held in trust until the time of need. Care funds, which are comprised of a portion of at-need cemetery sales, also are placed in trust, but cemeteries are allowed to use the interest earned on those funds to help pay for cemetery maintenance.
On its most recent annual reports, Perpetua reported $1.4 million in Burr Oak’s Care Trust Fund and $410,000 in its Pre-Need Trust Fund. Perpetua also reported $3.1 million in its Cedar Park Care Trust Fund, about $764,000 in its Cemetery Pre-Need Trust Fund and another $277,000 in its Funeral Pre-Need Trust Fund.
A preliminary hearing on the license revocations is set Friday, July 24 at 10 a.m. at the Michael A. Bilandic Building, 160 North LaSalle St., Room C-500, Chicago.
The Comptroller's Office is continuing to work with the sheriff's office to compare its records regarding the trust funds with the documentation the sheriff is collecting from consumers and individuals who have family and friends buried at the cemetery.
The Comptroller's Office has limited legal authority over cemeteries, specifically focusing on consumer funds accepted by the cemetery that are held in trust with trust earnings to be used for the care of the cemetery. The office also licenses funeral homes and cemeteries that sell pre-need arrangements in advance of death. Under those licenses, the pre-need funds are held in trust until needed to cover funeral and cemetery costs at the time of death. The office requires annual financial reporting and conducts audits to ensure financial compliance. Local government, religious and fraternal organization cemeteries register with the office, but are not licensed or audited by the office because state law specifically exempts them.
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