Funeral Director Accused of Stealing Pre-Paid Funds from Clients

COVENTRY, Conn. (WFSB) – Philip Pietras, the owner of multiple funeral homes in Connecticut, has been accused of stealing pre-paid funeral funds from clients.

Pietras, who owns Pietras Funeral Home in Coventry, Burke-Fortin Funeral Home in Vernon, Bassinger & Dowd Funeral Home in East Windsor, and Tolland Memorial Funeral Home, was arrested in April. Authorities claim he misused money intended for pre-paid funerals to gamble.

Since his arrest, numerous clients have reached out to neighboring funeral directors for assistance, reporting losses totaling thousands of dollars. Frank Carmon of Carmon Community Funeral Homes highlights the growing number of complaints, indicating nearly 80 calls from potential victims have been logged.

“This magnitude is a lot greater than what the state initially knew during the first investigation,” Carmon said, emphasizing the need for victims to report their issues to police.

Tim Carmon has also been assisting affected individuals and noted that out of 11 clients they’ve spoken to, only two had the full amount of their pre-paid funds intact. Five clients found no records of their funds, while the rest had mixed results.

Combined, these customers had prepaid around $70,000, but only $19,000 remains accessible, not including the $80,000 Pietras is accused of stealing from eight clients.

Under Connecticut law, funeral homes must deposit pre-paid funds into a trust account within ten days. These funds should accrue interest over time.

Frank Carmon advises consumers to ensure they receive receipts and monitor their financial statements annually from the associated institutions.

Currently, Pietras’ funeral director license is suspended. He had an opportunity to contest this at a recent Department of Public Health hearing but requested a postponement. His funeral homes remain operational, raising concerns about potential ongoing misconduct.

“We’re encouraging the board to take further action today to prevent any new deposits from unsuspecting clients,” Frank Carmon said. He is advocating for the state to conduct an audit of Pietras’ finances.

Attempts to contact Pietras for comment were unsuccessful. The Board of Embalmers is scheduled to reconvene on July 1 to discuss future actions.