Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 19, 1992 TAG: 9202190176
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
DEAL WORKED OUT TO SAVE CEMETERY
Prosecutor Cliff Hapgood says he could probably build an embezzlement case in connection with a $700,000 shortfall in trust accounts at a Franklin County cemetery.But Hapgood says he will file no charges against former cemetery operators because further court action could hurt efforts to find a buyer willing to save Franklin Memorial Park.
"This is a case I'm really unhappy about," Hapgood said Monday. "But you have to almost look at it in a different light. It's a very important thing to Franklin County to have that cemetery up and running."
Hapgood said he was satisfied with a proposed civil settlement in which a former operator and the current owner would deposit $342,000 - or about half the shortfall - into the trust funds.
The proposed settlement, which was announced Tuesday, will have to be approved by Circuit Judge B.A. Davis III.
Franklin Memorial Park, located on U.S. 220 between Boones Mill and Rocky Mount, is one of the county's largest perpetual-care cemeteries.
The $700,000 shortfall was discovered last summer when commissioner of revenue Ben Pinckard reviewed sales contracts for more than 9,000 cemetery plots.
The money should have been set aside to ensure there was enough money to mow the grass and provide plot owners with grave markers, vaults and other services they paid for in advance.
Under state law, perpetual-care cemeteries are required to set aside 10 percent of all plot-sale revenue to provide for maintenance of the grounds and 40 percent of other revenue to fulfill "pre-need" contracts.
Davis appointed a special receiver to recover funds from Miloslava Ferguson, a Roanoke woman who started the cemetery with her husband in 1960, and Rooney Enterprises, which operated the cemetery from November 1990 to May 1991.
Ferguson has agreed to pay about $240,000 over the next 11 months and Rooney Enterprises has agreed to provide $75,912 and buy an estimated $23,000 worth of vaults and markers.
In addition, Ferguson has agreed to give up ownership of the cemetery.
Eric Ferguson, a special receiver who is unrelated to Miloslava Ferguson, recommended that Davis accept the settlement offers.
"It is in the best interest of Franklin Memorial Park to avoid additional delay in the resolution of these matters," Eric Ferguson said in a report to the judge. "Any further delay will merely work a hardship on the cemetery."
If the settlement is approved, Ferguson said his next step would be to find a buyer for the cemetery.
Ferguson said the cemetery would be a good investment despite a remaining shortfall of $300,000 in the trust account
The new owner would roll the purchase price into the trust accounts and would have enough land to market another 1,000 plots, Ferguson said.