P.E.I. funeral director expelled, fined over pre-paid funeral accusations
The proprietor of Dawson Funeral Residence in Crapaud has had his licences revoked following an trade affiliation investigation into allegations he misappropriated cash paid for pre-arranged funerals.
Along with his funeral director and funeral dwelling operator licences being revoked, Lowell Oakes was fined a complete of $15,000 by the Prince Edward Island Funeral Companies and Professions Board.
An individual who answered the cellphone at Lowell’s home on Friday would not take a message and mentioned it was unlikely he would need to remark in regards to the scenario.
In February, RCMP mentioned they’d launched an investigation into alleged monetary irregularities at Dawson Funeral Residence; as of Friday morning, they confirmed that their investigation is ongoing.
In a information launch Friday, the funeral providers board mentioned points with the way in which Oakes was dealing with pre-arranged funeral funds got here to gentle throughout a routine inspection in August 2021.
Based mostly on the inspector’s report and additional investigation, a committee of the board decided that the funeral dwelling misappropriated $316,790.98 in funds and defrauded quite a lot of people out of their bought pre-arranged funerals.
Proprietor supplied responses
Oakes supplied the board with written responses to the allegations, the information launch mentioned.
In a single response, Oakes indicated that eight individuals had their cash refunded in full, the discharge mentioned, however the board concluded that these refunds did not embody curiosity and that the operator didn’t put the funds in a belief account as required.
Oakes additionally mentioned in 16 instances individuals had their funeral providers supplied, in line with the discharge.
The board, nonetheless, concluded there couldn’t have been sufficient cash to pay for these funerals and that Oakes will need to have used cash paid for different pre-arranged funerals and abnormal funeral funds.
Small claims actions
In April, CBC Information reported that three authorized actions had been filed towards Oakes and his enterprise in P.E.I.’s small claims courtroom, over pay as you go funeral preparations made with Dawson Funeral Residence.
One of many plaintiffs mentioned in authorized paperwork that Oakes had visited after phrase broke in regards to the alleged irregularities.
“He knowledgeable us that the $20,000… had by no means been deposited. He indicated it was laborious to make ends meet in that enterprise … however [he] had all the time been capable of cowl funerals as they arose,” the plaintiff claims within the courtroom doc.
“He requested us to not share this data with anybody outdoors our dwelling. He didn’t need anybody to know.”
