State probing HILO >> A state lawyer says an investigation of Memorial Mortuary is looking into the apparent disappearance of money from a Memorial trust fund.
mortuary fund
The trust fund was formed to
support prepaid funeralsBy Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.comDuring a court hearing yesterday, Deputy Attorney General Christopher Young said the mortuary was required to put money into a fund around 1995 to ensure prepaid funerals would be performed when the need arose.
Investigators found the fund was dissolved, the money was put into a new account, but the new trust fund had a negative balance, he said. The finding could be evidence of theft.
Young made no mention of another allegation, that the mortuary stole caskets during burials in the 1980s. After the hearing, he declined to say whether the investigation is still looking at that possibility.
Attorney general investigators arrested Memorial manager Robert Diego; his wife Momi; and their daughter Bobbi Jean Diego on March 20 for second-degree theft. They were released the next day without charges.
Memorial attorney Brenda Carreira said the statute of limitations has run out on most if not all of the alleged offenses.
The second-degree theft being investigated by the state has a three-year limit, whether it refers to 1980s caskets or 1995 money, she said.
The state also is looking at allegations that Memorial lacked licenses around 1995 to sell pre-need plans and to do embalmings. Both are misdemeanors with a two-year statute of limitations, she said.
The mortuary has denied any wrongdoing.
Yesterday's hearing was on a motion by Carreira to have the state return mortuary records seized in February. The search warrant was too general, she said. Its effect was, "Come on in; take whatever you like," she said.
Young said the warrant had to be somewhat general because investigators didn't know how long the offenses went on. Judge Greg Nakamura said he would rule on the question of excessive generality by May 3.
If the search warrant survives that test, Carreira is also challenging it on the grounds that it was based on unreliable or inaccurate statements.
Carreira had 13 witnesses ready to testify yesterday regarding various statements an investigator made to a judge in support of the warrant. The witnesses included Pearly Pa and Gilbert Rosa, who say their relatives' caskets, supposedly buried in the 1980s, were found missing in the 1990s.
Nakamura ordered all witnesses to return to testify May 23 if the legality of the warrant hasn't been decided by then.
State of Hawaii
