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Saturday, November 2, 2024

Judge issues discovery orders in 9-year-old pre-need funeral scam case

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ST. LOUIS – A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, Eastern Division, recently issued a mixed ruling in a 9-year-old racketeering lawsuit brought by dozens of plaintiffs against more than 40 defendants involving allegations of a nationwide "pre-need" funeral services scheme. 

The case began in August 2009 when plaintiffs filed a complaint against defendants that included the Cassity family of St. Louis, six of whom were sentenced in 2013 to prison for their roles in defrauding victims of more than $450 million in the alleged Ponzi scheme involving prepaid funerals. Other defendants included PNC Bank and National City Bank.

The case had gone to trial in February 2015 with a jury awarding $491 million – $355.5 million in compensatory damages and $35.5 million in punitive damages against PNC Bank and another $100 million against Forever Enterprises, which was a defunct Cassity family-owned holding company, according to a news report.

However, a federal appeals court overturned the verdict in August 2017.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals remanded the case to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber issued a ruling June 8 on motions for protective orders and a motion to compel, concerning the scope of the 8th Circuit’s remand and its effect on the "breadth of discovery."

Webber denied the plaintiffs' motion for protective orders to keep them from having to respond to the defendants’ third set of requests for production to plaintiffs and third set of interrogatories.

Plaintiffs include the special deputy receiver, Jo Ann Howard and Associates P.C., for National Prearranged Services Inc., Lincoln Memorial Life Insurance Company, and Memorial Service Life Insurance Company; the National Organization of Life and Health Guaranty Associations; SDR; and the individual state life and health insurance guaranty associations of Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

Webber also granted in part PNC Bank's and National City Bank's motion for protective order to keep them from producing a witness. 

Regarding plaintiff SDR's motion to compel, Webber granted in part a request that defendants supplement their prior incomplete discovery responses.

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