Indiana Board Denies Funeral Home License Over Secret Profit-Sharing Deal
A deal between a fraudster and his friend goes awry
By Tony Russo of On Deathcare
The Indiana Funeral and Cemetery Board voted unanimously earlier this month to deny a branch license application for Edmondson Family Funeral Home after discovering the applicant had entered into a profit-sharing lease agreement with Gary Greiner, the director at the center of the state’s largest pre-need fraud investigation.
The board had permenantly revoked Greiner’s funeral director licence and his business license earlier in that same meeting. The former funral director was accused in an 18-count complaint regarding the mishandling of over $550,000 in unfunded preneed.
Despite initially testifying that his business would have “no ties” or relations with the accused fraudster or his representatives, funeral home owner Jeff Edmondson admitted under intense questioning that he was leasing the former Greiner Funeral Home facility in Terre Haute from Greiner himself.
Under the terms of the triple net lease, which Edmondson presented to the board, Edmondson Family Funeral Home agreed to $3,500 per month for a one-year term that could be terminated by either party with just three months’ notice.
If the board wasn’t thrilled with that discovery, imagine their alarm when they discovered additional terms requiring Edmondson to pay Greiner half of the monthly net, on top of his lease.
Board member Frank Downing couldn’t have been clearer about his own opinion.
“I have sat here on this board for 12 years and every single time we have a situation like this there’s somebody there to cut a deal where the former owner is. Still we don’t want Greiner associated … he has given us all a black eye.” he said. “He has hurt every funeral director’s reputation in the state of Indiana and in the U.S. by doing this stealing from little old ladies who trusted him.”
And then it got worse. Testimony revealed that the pair had a 35-year-long personal and professional association and even worked together for more than a decade. The friendship even extended into the scandal. According to the board, Greiner’s attorney sent letters to preneed contract holders directing them to Fizpatrick Funeral Home, which Edmondson and his wife, Michelle, own.
Initially, Greiner intended to just send all the preneed contracts over to Edmondson, but the former checked with the board and discovered that wasn’t proper, that customers could choose to move their contracts wherever they wished. Greiner’s lawyer sent the letter when Edmondson told him not to send the files.
The board said that the letter, by law, should have come frome Greiner and not his lawyer. Neither Greiner nor his attorney were present for any of the meeting.
The board said they worried that Edmondson was protecting Greiner’s assets, while also allowing him to profit from the community he’s accused of defrauding. They also said the length made it appear like a fly-by-night proposition.In his own defense, Edmondson said the building was a high risk proposition, which is why they structured the deal as they had. He also told the board that the building was no longer slated for a sheriff sale.
Tony Russo runs On Deathcare, an industry newsletter. You can reach
him at bytonyrusso@gmail.com
