Insurance Investigators Examining Okla. Funeral Home

Accounting questions surrounding a funeral benefits trust fund operated by a Fletcher, Okla., funeral home have prompted the state insurance department to seize control of the fund.

The owner of the funeral home, John W. Hodge, has ignored repeated requests for more information about the Hodge Funeral Home’s Prepaid Funeral Benefits Trust, agency spokesman Marc Young said.

The Hodge Funeral Home fund contained $207,059, according to the 2004 report confirmed by the insurance department. In March, the funeral home reported that the trust held nearly $180,000 as of Dec. 31, but that certification contained discrepancies that still have not been cleared up, Young said.

The funeral home received an extension to file its report earlier this year but has not provided a complete accounting, he said.

“What we’re concerned about is that the money could have been potentially absconded with or wastefully mismanaged,” Young said. “We’re in the process of collecting the records and assets of the fund so we can determine if the funds are still there.”

Hodge reported that 41 clients had money in the trust fund at the end of 2004, but the Insurance Department has been able to verify only 16, Young said.

A woman who answered the telephone at the Fletcher funeral home said Hodge was on vacation.

The change of control of the trust fund will not affect the operations at the Hodge funeral homes in Fletcher and Elgin, Young said.

Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland appointed an independent receiver to manage the operations, assets and records of the trust account, Young said.

“I am deeply concerned whether the funds invested in the Hodge Funeral Home’s Prepaid Funeral Benefits Trust by Oklahomans to pay future funeral expenses have been managed properly,” Holland said in a statement. “When Oklahomans place their trust in a prepaid funeral plan they deserve to know the money will be there when they need it.”

The Insurance Department has issued 368 active permits to sell prepaid funeral plans in Oklahoma.

Information from: The Oklahoman, www.newsok.com.