Owner of P.E.I. funeral home facing 66 fraud charges
CRAPAUD, P.E.I. —
Police have laid 66 fraud fees in opposition to the proprietor of a Crapaud funeral dwelling who allegedly misappropriated lots of of hundreds of {dollars} paid from purchasers for prearranged funeral plans.
Lowell Oakes, 70, was charged in Charlottetown provincial court docket on July 21 in reference to an investigation into unaccounted money paid to Dawson Funeral Home for prearranged funeral plans.
The fees embody 36 counts of fraud over $5,000 and 30 counts of fraud below $5,000.
Police first acquired a criticism about cash lacking from a belief for prearranged funeral plans in August 2021.
Beneath the P.E.I. Prearranged Funeral Companies Act, the seller of a prearranged funeral plan should place the funds right into a belief account inside 30 days of signing an settlement with a consumer.
Nevertheless, police mentioned the complainant alleged that their cash had not been positioned within the belief.
Because the preliminary criticism, police mentioned investigators have realized of dozens of different prearranged funeral plans that had been additionally not positioned within the belief, amounting to lots of of hundreds of {dollars}.
Mounties are contacting all recognized complainants to replace them on the investigation, and police imagine there could also be different victims.
“Our investigation is not over but — we imagine it’s attainable there could also be different victims on the market,” mentioned Queens District RCMP Sgt. Craig Eveleigh.
“We at the moment are asking anybody who bought a prearranged funeral plan from Dawson Funeral dwelling in Crapaud between 1996 and 2021 to contact an RCMP detachment in P.E.I. as quickly as attainable. When you have already filed a report, police will likely be following up with you.”
Oakes is scheduled to seem in court docket on Aug. 22, to enter a plea.
Dawson Funeral Residence has been closed since August 2021. The P.E.I. Funeral Professions and Services Board revoked the funeral home’s licenses in March.
Police mentioned the investigation is continuous.
