Funeral Home Director Accused Of Using Pre-Paid Funeral Fees To Support Gambling Problem
BURGETTSTOWN (KDKA) -- The Taucher Funeral Home is an icon in the Burgettstown community, but its reputation may now have a blemish.
Owner and funeral director Lynn Sue Taucher faces numerous charges filed by the attorney general's office, including fraud and theft.
According to the criminal complaint, Taucher collected pre-paid fees for funerals and co-mingled the money with her own personal account.
Her civil attorney simply calls it a matter of shoddy book-keeping.
"I was hired a year ago to put together the escrow accounts required by law, fund them, which we have funded and submit a list of pre-need funerals to the state attorney general's office," attorney Jeffrey Weinberg said.
Investigators say Taucher admitted she put the pre-paid funeral money in her own PNC account and drew from it to support her gambling problem from 2006 to 2016.
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Taucher allegedly accepted more than $375,000 from 47 pre-paid customers.
"We've already provided pre-need funerals to some people who have passed away in 2016, so the number has gone down some. I began this process a year ago," Weinberg said.
Weinberg is of the opinion that the AG's office will drop all the charges.
"Because I think we will satisfy them as the criminal process unravels, we will satisfy the AG's office that we have complied with all of the pre-need funerals," Weinberg said.
Weinberg says if anyone has a question or concern about a pre-paid funeral, give him a call at 412-877-0728.
Taucher waived her preliminary hearing and paid a $20,000 bond.
