The worst kind of crook is those who cheat the elderly and dead!
It took Mattie Roberts a few minutes to guide her walker to the front of the room and settle in beside Frank V. Griffin, the funeral director at the Historic Dent's Undertaking Establishment.
She asked Mr. Griffin to repay the $1,760.52 she had given to him as prepayment for her funeral expenses.
"When you are old, you can go at anytime," Ms. Roberts said.
She needed the money back to make other funeral arrangements, she said.
Mr. Griffin filed for personal bankruptcy Aug. 20, listing the debts and assets of Dent's funeral home as his own.
A creditors' meeting was held Wednesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Nowhere in his petition are the prepaid funeral agreements listed. Bankruptcy Trustee A. Stephenson Wallace and several angry senior citizens wanted to know what happened to the money that was supposed to be set aside in special accounts for prepaid funerals.
Mr. Griffin said he didn't have the money. When the checks come in, he will give some of the money to former owners Thomasina Ketch and Juliette Burton and use the rest to pay the funeral home's bills, he said.
"If I had the money I'd be down in the Cayman Islands ... not going through this," Mr. Griffin said.
"How am I going to get buried?" Lucille Patterson asked.
Mr. Griffin told her and several others that if they had prepaid for funerals he had a friend who would honor their contracts. He said he could not name the person in the public hearing.
"That's not good enough for me," said Ms. Patterson, who will be 92 in August.
"I want concrete evidence. Where is my $7,047?" she demanded.
Mr. Griffin said he didn't know how many prepaid customers Dent's had. After the Georgia Department of Revenue shut it down, all of the paperwork disappeared, he said.
The Department of Revenue closed the funeral home in July because it owed $142,334 in sales taxes.
Dent's Undertaking Establishment is the city's oldest black-owned funeral home. It was founded by John and Julia Dent in 1888, family members have told The Augusta Chronicle.
Their son-in-law Thomas H. Ketch Sr. took over the business and passed it down to his daughters, Ms. Ketch and Ms. Burton, in 1985.
Mr. Griffin said Ms. Ketch and Ms. Burton each signed over one-third interest in the D'Antignac Street funeral home about eight years ago.
He said Patricia Jefferson owns the remaining one-third of the business.
Mr. Griffin's bankruptcy petition lists assets of $539,081 and debts of $441,156.
Although he filed for Chapter 11, a reorganization of debts, it was converted to Chapter 7, a liquidation bankruptcy.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
Comments
The worst kind of crook is those who cheat the elderly and dead!
I guess this teaches everyone a valuable lesson. Instead of putting your money for things like this with anyone, move it into a special account at the bank. It can still be designated for whatever special reason you want, and it's insured. Hope those old folks get their money, but I'm doubting it.
Sounds like this guy is an out and out crook....is he going to be able to get away wiith this?........Hell is waiting for you griffin.......
Hurleyburly---of course he will, Dent's Undertaking Establishment is the city's oldest black-owned funeral home.
FISH2, you said that to say what?
You guys didn's seem to tell people to bury people at the stake when the WHITE MEN from that one company took people money and embezzled it. But because this is a black funeral home you want to say he is a thief, notice it said he took over the interest about 8 years ago. So lets go from that date, I bet some of these were done before he even owned it. Sometimes businesses go out of business, that is the reason they have bankruptcy and things. Sometime regular people run out of money it happens. So let's just sit back and wait and see what will happen. Unless you have the money to help pay the debt off SHUT UP.... and for hurlyburly (which probably translates to fat white racist) you have no heaven or hell to put anyone in.
huh.. i've never thought of "burying anyone at the stake".. reminds me of those mixed metaphors Opus in Bloom County used to make.
alexfromDT-I wasn't going to say this cause I didn't wont to bring race into the comment,but you went all racist.So as bad as this is for those poor people it could have and would have been worse. If a white funeral home had cheated them.Could you please give more details what white funeral home and where? I do remember hearing about the one that was paid to do cremations.Then buried the bodys in a mass grave near a lake.They all went to jail.
Alex, you need to proofread before hitting "post". You furthermore should think about what you are TRYING to say.
If he would have been more focused on running his business right instead of riding up and down 9th street picking up gay men he probably wouldn't be in this situation. What is that to say I would be in the cayman island. CROOK.
I don't understand how this man is a crook. He declared bankruptcy (perfectly legal option). I can't help but wonder how many people used his services over the years and then "stuck him" with the bill through a bankruptcy action. I definetly sympathize with Mattie Roberts and I hope she gets her money back but I doubt she will. All Mr. Griffin has to do is amend his bankruptcy action and include Mrs. Roberts and all the others, and he does not legally have to pay them back. It is a bitter pill to swallow for Mrs. Roberts, hopefully Mr. Griffin tries to do what is morally right and take care of Mrs. Roberts who obviously was totally acting in good faith.
BTW is there a difference between a "white" funeral home and a "black" funeral home. Does a "black" funeral home only bury black people? Or is a "white" funeral home owned by "white" people but only buries... It is all so confusing. I always knew Augusta is full of pinheads!
WOW ... look at all the comments removed for policy violations. White Scorpion, any advance money for funerals is supposed to have been set aside in a special account. That is the law and is NOT legal! He used that money for other purposes.
Yes White?Scorpion, its that way in Augusta. So are Augusta's churches.
Let me try this again but maybe a little nicer not to make the augusta chronicle people mad. Stop jumping on the black funeral home, it is just like any other business that can go out of business. These types of things happen.... however let us look to resolution. There is something in place to take care of the people who need to be buried. Mr. Griffin seems like a fairly smart man, so I am assured that they will take care of people. Dent's is the only funeral we have used and I will also seek his advice on funeral services in the future if I need them. Also edward68, this is not english class.... my post are my post. You sound like that idiot(hurlyburly) trying to send someone to hell. If he is going I am sure like wal-mart you both will be greeters.
Yeah, this is not a black-white thing at all. Dent's has been in business far too long, even after Mr. Griffin took over, to be accused now of anything nefarious. The economy just did them in, for whatever reasons. Usually, small and neighborhood businesses like this fall on harder times that other businesses because they do special free favors for their customers that they would/should charge for. But that's why people keep coming back to them and are loyal to them. Sad on both ends, really.
If these folks have contracts for prepaid funerals and the money is gone the 'Dent official' should be arrested and charged with fraud. Same as Bernie Madoff.
White scorpion, the LAW says that prepaid funeral expenses must go into a special escrow account that can only use it for that express purpose. And this comment "BTW is there a difference between a "white" funeral home and a "black" funeral home. Does a "black" funeral home only bury black people?" shows that you are an ignorant NORTHERN white scorpion. Black funeral customs are different than white funeral customs, and that is why generally speaking, but not always, blacks use black funeral homes and whites use white ones. It's not a law or a hard-and-fast rule but it's a social custom. And you are welcome to think that Augusta is full of pinheads, no one is forcing you to stay. Please do us all a favor and take your ignorant self back to where you came from. And white scorpion, dead people cannot file bankruptcy. A funeral bill is owed by an estate of a person because that's who the services was provided for. That's why the funeral homes want immediate payment up front.
Listen here retard... I figure this is just another case of black folk only patronizing black businesses.
I agree with White Scorpion on the fact that what has happened at Dent's does not make Mr. Griffin a crook...I know for a fact that most of the black funeral homes (maybe white also but I KNOW about the black ones) are still owed money from services they provided and have not been paid...Some people have a $1000 or $2000 or $3000 policy and use that and promise to pay the balance, but a lot of times they don't. And the funeral home still try to help families that don't have much insurance. So I would not jump all over Dent's right now or Mr. Griffin for that matter because I'm sure a lot of black folks who are putting Dent's and Mr. Griffin down are the very ones who owe them money.
Now, on another note, I understand that Patricia Jefferson Jones, the fourth wife of Joe Jones, owns a third of Dent's. I was under the impression that Joe pulled his investment or interests out of Dent's. Anyways, JOE JONES is the one that people should be checking out because HE IS A CROOK!
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