Brent Douglas Cassity, Funeral Contract Scheme, Missouri 2013

Brent Douglas Cassity, a former employee of National Prearranged Services, Inc. and Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Company, pleaded guilty to participating in a fraudulent scheme involving the sale of prearranged funeral contracts and monetary transactions involving the proceeds of that scheme.

Cassity faces up to five years in prison for his role in the scheme, which involved the sale of prearranged funeral contracts in several states, including Tennessee and Ohio, from as early as 1992 and continuing until 2008.

According to court documents, National Prearranged Services, Inc. sold prearranged funeral contracts to customers, who would pay a single sum of money upfront to the company either directly or through a funeral home that was also a party to the contract. However, Cassity admitted that NPS made use of funds paid by customers in ways that were inconsistent with its prior and continuing representations and with applicable state laws and regulations.

Cassity was employed at various times by NPS and also served as a Director of Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Company, for which NPS served as General Agent. He also held numerous titles with affiliated companies, including Chief Executive Officer, Chairman, President and Director of Forever Enterprises, Inc., and President and Director of National Heritage Enterprises.

Cassity pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud (count 31), one count of wire fraud (count 21) and one count of money laundering (count 38). He also pleaded guilty to willfully permitting James Douglas Cassity, whom he knew to have been convicted of a felony involving fraud or dishonesty, to exercise significant control over NPS’ affiliated insurance companies (count 50).

Cassity will be sentenced on November 7, 2013, at 9 a.m. Earlier this month, Cassity’s co-defendant and fellow NPS executive Sharon Nekol Province pleaded guilty to six counts of mail fraud, wire fraud and misappropriation of insurance premiums arising out of the same scheme.

As is always the case, charges do not constitute proof of guilt, and every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty. Cassity’s case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Steven Muchnick, Charles Birmingham, and Richard Finneran are handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edmo/pr/former-employee-national-prearranged-services-inc-and-lincoln-memorial-life-insurance