BATTLE CREEK, MI (WKZO AM/FM) — State regulators are saying that misuse of funds prompted them to revoke the license of a Battle Creek funeral home.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) say that Royal Funeral Home Inc. has been implicated in thousands of dollars of fraud against customers.
The agencies said in a statement that manager Richard L. Royal allegedly violated prepaid contracts and committed fraud while running the facility.
An audit done in May 2019 found several violations in record keeping and finances by the funeral home, including failure to maintain copies of prepaid funeral contracts and failing to deposit $269,228 received for prepaid funeral goods and services with an authorized escrow agent.
LARA also found violations of the Prepaid Funeral and Cemetery Sales Act and state occupational code, leading them to accuse the business of fraud, deceit, and dishonesty in the practice of mortuary science.
Complaints against the business prompted LARA to revoke Royal Funeral Home’s license on April 16th. Royal failed to pay $78,000 out of $194,000 owed to clients, spurring regulators to suspend the manager and funeral homes registration and establishment license in December.
LARA officials say that Royal will be unable to apply for an establishment license again.
