Funeral Home Owner Sentenced In Pre-Paid Burial Fund Scam

SUFFERN, NY — Scarr Funeral Home owner Leonard Scarr has been sentenced to an indeterminate term in state prison of two to six years, and proceeds from the sale of the funeral home are being disbursed to victims of his pre-paid burial fund scam.

A joint investigation by the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office and the Ramapo Police Department confirmed 88 victims with an aggregate loss of just under $500,000.

In a plea deal, Scarr admitted in July to stealing in excess of $3,000 from two victims. Also, the Upper Saddle River, New Jersey resident admitted to misappropriating funds on received for more than 10 customers' burial accounts.

In the fall of 2020, in an effort to ensure that all the victims would be reimbursed, the DA’s Office filed a civil forfeiture action in the Rockland County Supreme Court seeking forfeiture from Leonard Scarr’s property and proceeds from the sale of the Scarr Funeral Home.

When the sale of the property closed in the summer of 2021, the sum of $540,000 (to be paid at $9,000 per victim for the next five years) was set aside to pay back the victims of Scarr’s theft. As of today, 15 victims have been refunded an aggregate amount of $59,582.56 and another nine victims need to be refunded an aggregate amount of $36,045.62.

The remaining 64 victims chose to have the Edwards Funeral Home honor their contact with Scarr Funeral Home, and those people, Edwards Funeral Home, and the Scarr victim receivership entered into a notarized contractual agreement ensuring that these victims’ services will be honored, said Rockland District Attorney Thomas Walsh.

The scam worked like this: For one victim, after signing a contract to set up a prepaid burial account, Scarr deposited the victim's money, and to gain access forged a death certificate in the victim's name, presented the forged death certificate to representatives of the bank where the burial escrow account was held, withdrew the funds from the account, and used them for various personal expenses. The account holder is still alive. Scarr also contracted with a woman to set up a prepaid burial account, but never did. Instead, Scarr used her funds for various personal expenses.

At Scarr's sentencing on Wednesday, three victims addressed the court on the record with victim impact statements, while 32 other victims provided written impact statements to the Rockland CountyDepartment of Probation for Judge Larry J. Schwartz to review.

"Losing a loved one is one of the most challenging times in an individual's life," Walsh said after the sentencing Wednesday. "The defendant took advantage of these difficult situations the victims were in for his own personal gain. I hope today’s sentence, which included the full reimbursement of funds, gives the victims some comfort. I commend the detectives of the Ramapo Police Department for their dedication and professionalism investigating this case."

Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Dugandzic and Senior Assistant District Attorney Melissa Robustello prosecuted the case.

SEE ALSO: Rockland DA Prevents Sale Of Scarr Funeral Home