Vicksburg’s only commercial cemetery is under court management today after an investigation showed its burial prepayment account nearly empty.

Claims

To register a claim against Green Acres, phone Dave Scott at the Secretary of State’s Business Regulation and Enforcement Division at 601-359-9055.

Bank accounts and operations of Green Acres Memorial Park on U.S. 80 were frozen by request of Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, who won from Chancellor Vicki Roach Barnes a temporary restraining order against Green Acres’ owner, identified as Stephanie Graham of Houston, Texas.

Barnes set a hearing for Feb. 2 to begin untangling the cemetery’s accounts, contracts and operating records since 2001.

A trust account that is supposed to contain money people paid for future burials at the cemetery just east of the Beechwood intersection is short $373,000, Hosemann said.

A separate $220,000 trust account to pay for the “assured perpetual care” promised on the Green Acres entrance sign is intact, but is sealed by today’s court order and cannot be used to offset burial costs.

“To take from individuals, many of whom pay a small amount for a number of years so they can be buried in peace without their families having to pay for it is literally robbing the grave,” Hosemann said Thursday. “We are not going to put up with it.”

Attorney Mack Varner, whose father bought the cemetery not long after it was created in 1955, said concerns about the cemetery have circulated for several years. These intensified in October when crews showed up to remove files from a modular office before the building itself was hauled away.

Hosemann’s office declined comment at that time, but Thursday announced a series of actions against several funeral industry companies — with Green Acres the most sweeping.

About 3,200 graves are in its landscaped 15-acre area, created as an alternative to the city’s public cemetery and church and fraternal graveyards.

At the time of a death, a family can buy a grave space, vault and marker. Additional fees are collected at the time of a sale for continuing cemetery maintenance and charges are assessed for opening and closing graves. Some or all of the charges may be paid in advance, and that’s the focus of the state action alleging violation of corporate reporting and trust account requirements.

The prepaid burial trust fund account is nearly empty, Hosemann said. The investigation by his Business Regulation and Enforcement Division revealed that the current balance in this trust fund is $221.60, instead of the required $373,813.40.

In addition, Hosemann said, there are liens against the property and other debts and claims.

“This is a very, very serious matter,” said Charles Riles, a Vicksburg funeral director and chairman of the state Board of Funeral Service. “When you are dealing with cemeteries and the bereaved, that is very sacred ground.” The funeral service board licenses embalmers and funeral directors and has new authority over crematories, but has no role regarding cemeteries.

Hosemann’s motion said those who have paid Green Acres for future burials and related costs are in danger of having their contracts “become worthless and losing the entire sum of their premiums.” It asks the court to order Graham, who was not represented in the emergency request, to pay back the missing trust funds. She took over ownership at the death of her father, Mike W. Graham, in 2007.

It is difficult to estimate how many people have made the “pre-need” arrangements that have been the target of the investigation, Hosemann said, but his research indicates at least 80 to 100. The cemetery has two employees who can expect to be paid and scheduled burials, including one on Saturday, will take place, a representative of Hosemann’s office said after court action this morning.

Green Acres is subject to the so-called Pre-Need Act passed by the Legislature in 2001 to regulate prepaid funds and contracts. Initially, the act mandated that 50 percent of funds prepaid for burial and related services had to be deposited in a trust fund. That was amended in 2006 to 85 percent.

Green Acres was found in violation of those mandates in 2006, and despite a cease and desist order not made public, continued to sell pre-need contracts to customers. The owner also faces charges of selling “pre-need” arrangements without a license related to that order.

Both Glenwood Funeral Home director John Kamman and Varner expressed shock this morning at the news of that order, saying they were not aware that Green Acres was operating illegally.

While questions exist on whether prepaid services will be honored at Green Acres, individuals who paid for burial plots should have the deeds, which are legal titles to those plots, Hosemann said.

Getting interment services and grave markers are another matter.

Vicksburg dentist Jim Vessell said his mother and brother-in-law were buried in Green Acres last February and November, respectively. The family is still waiting for the bronze markers they paid for to be installed.

“We called and called and called and got no help,” Vessell said. “When my sister threatened to charge them with fraud they finally gave us the number for Graham Associates in Texas.” The family sent registered letters and has notified the Mississippi Attorney General.

Glenwood Funeral Home, adjacent to one Green Acres gate, is in no way affiliated with the cemetery. Glenwood president Bill Mobley said he gets frequent visits from people looking for information or services from Green Acres or a place to lodge a complaint. He said his staff is unable to help.

“We are not associated with Green Acres in any business manner, fashion or form,” Mobley said. “There’s nothing we can do.”

Hosemann said he is asking people to contact the Regulation and Enforcement Division if they have claims against the cemetery. Burials may be in doubt until the legal haze clears.

“They just have to live another 60 to 90 days,” he told a group of Rotary Club members standing around him after their meeting Thursday. “There can’t be any deaths in Warren County for a while.”

More seriously, he expressed hope that between the courts and his office a successor will be found to take over at least interim management of the cemetery and handle burials.

But Riles was grim. “It’s going to be a big problem.”

*

Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com.

Others targeted

Other businesses identified for action by the Secretary of State:

* Prentiss Memorial Gardens in Baldwyn

* Sunset Gardens Memorial Park in Laurel

* Liberty Memorial Park in Booneville

* Pinecrest Memorial Park in Pittsboro

All four are owned and operated by Don Middleton and Rogers Memorial Management Company, LLC.  All four were found to have their pre-need trust accounts deficient. Based on incomplete records, an exact amount has yet to be determined. However, of $378,960.03 worth of contracts sold by the providers; state examiners have found at least 50 percent  of those funds are unaccounted for.

The Secretary of State’s Office, in conjunction with the Attorney General’s Office, has filed a lawsuit against Middleton and Rogers Memorial Management in the Chancery Court of Prentiss County seeking restitution, repayment of legal fees and investigative costs, as well as civil penalties in the amount of $1,000 per violation.

* Southern Mortuary in Jackson

Owned and operated by Mark Seepe. A review of his records found his trust fund lacking at least $38,230, Delbert Hosemann said. However, due to poor recordkeeping, this is believed to be a conservative amount. The Office of the Secretary of State and the Office of the Attorney General is seeking a judgment in Hinds County Chancery Court for the trust fund shortage. Litigation is ongoing. Seepe also had his funeral licenses removed after allegations regarding his crematory operation.

* George F. West Funeral Home in Natchez

Owned by Theodore West. In addition to not being registered to sell pre-need contracts, state examiners say West Funeral Home’s trust is underfunded by approximately $95,000 and an administrative hearing is pending.

 * Jackson Mortuary in Aberdeen

Owned by Russell E. Jackson Sr. and Cynthia Jackson. A state complaint filed in Monroe County Chancery Court alleges $10,000 in insurance premium payments by pre-need customers was not properly accounted for. The Secretary of State’s Office was granted an injunction against the funeral provider to cease the sale of any further pre-need arrangements and is asking the court to issue a judgment against Jackson Mortuary for the insurance premium shortage.