The PEI RCMP Major Crime Unit is investigating allegations of financial irregularities at a funeral home in Crapaud, PEI.

The allegations are related to prearranged funeral plans. Under the PEI Prearranged Funeral Services Act, the vendor of a prearranged funeral plan must place the funds into a trust account within 30 days of signing an agreement with a client.

On August 30, 2021, police received a complaint that funds given to Dawson Funeral Home in Crapaud had not been placed in trust, and that the money was unaccounted for.

Once the police started to investigate, they learned of dozens of other prearranged funeral plans that were also not placed in trust. The funds involved are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The PEI Funeral Services and Professions Board is assisting with the RCMP investigation, and has suspended licences associated with the business pending a separate regulatory review.

Dawson Funeral Home is currently closed and the investigation is continuing.

Sgt. Chris Gunn of the PEI RCMP said “We are conducting a thorough investigation to determine the scope of these irregularities,”

“As part of that, we are looking through the funeral home’s records over the past 23 years.”

Anyone who purchased a prearranged funeral plan from Dawson Funeral Home in Crapaud, PEI, between 1998 and 2021 is asked to contact their nearest RCMP detachment in Prince Edward Island.

A full list of Island detachments is available here Find a detachment – Prince Edward Island (rcmp-grc.gc.ca)

This article was originally sourced by www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca.