Former East Prairie funeral home owner charged with financial exploitation of elderly

Ricky Penrod

A former Mississippi County funeral homeowner has been charged with financial exploitation of the elderly after selling pre-need funerals without a proper license.

Charles R. “Ricky” Penrod, of East Prairie, was charged Friday with financial exploitation of an elderly person or person with a disability. He was taken into custody Monday and bonded out on a $25,000 cash or surety bond.

According to a probable cause statement, Penrod, the former owner of Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie, was not licensed to sell pre-need contracts or provide services for pre-need contracts after Oct. 31, 2009. On April 19, 2016, Penrod’s funeral director license was revoked, and Shelby Funeral Home's ownership was assumed by new owner Lonnie Ponder on April 4, 2016.

Court documents from Mississippi County Circuit Court between the State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors v. Shelby Funeral Home, Inc., states Shelby Funeral Home was administratively dissolved as of Feb. 13, 2004. The court document also states Penrod engaged in pre-need services from Dec. 31, 2009, through the date of the order, which was dated July 24, 2014.

According to the probable cause statement, there was an interview with Ponder on March 26, 2020. Ponder confirmed he took possession of the funeral home in 2016 after assuming the debt incurred by Penrod.

Ponder told officers over time that he located at least 100 pre-need contracts, sold by Penrod, that had not been funded. Ponder also said there could be more unfunded contracts but would not know until he is contacted by the purchaser's family of the pre-need contract following a death.

Ponder also told officers he serviced 18 funerals in which families had provided a copy of a pre-need contract sold by Penrod. According to Ponder, he received no money from Penrod for the contracts, and he only asked the families to pay the inflationary costs of the funeral.

Ponder said he was trying to do the right thing by paying the funeral costs, stating his costs for those funerals was about $140,000.

Some of the pre-need contracts written by Penrod were after the sale of Shelby Funeral Home in April of 2016. Ponder told officers there was no money available to fund the pre-need accounts Penrod had written, providing 68 unfunded pre-need accounts.

The total dollar amount not transferred to Ponder by Penrod when taking ownership of Shelby Funeral Home was $268,040.10, with potentially more funds identified upon a death and the families coming forward.

According to the probable cause statement, Penrod stated the money from the pre-need accounts was garnished by the IRS because he didn’t put the money in the right place.

Sergeant J.S. Stoelting, a Missouri State Highway Patrol investigator, asked Penrod if he was ever licensed to sell pre-need contracts, to which Penrod replied, “yeah, at one time.”

Stoelting then asked Penrod if he continued to sell pre-need contracts after losing his license, and Penrod replied, “probably,” stating he couldn’t put the money into an account or the IRS would garnish it. Penrod told Stoelting everyone knew about the missing money, even the state.

Stoelting explained to Penrod that he sold numerous people a pre-need funeral without a proper license, to which Penrod replied, “I know.”

Stoelting also confronted Penrod that people wrote him a check that he cashed at McDonald’s Grocery Store, and the money is gone. Penrod asked, “for how much money?”

The investigator told Penrod they were still totaling it up, and Penrod replied, “They won’t cash a check that big.” Stoelting then informed Penrod he had copies of the cashed checks, with one for around $9,000.

Penrod was asked about one specific pre-need account for $9,532.25 that was purchased from him on July 7, 2014. The check was cashed by Penrod, and the family later learned of the missing pre-need money from Ponder.

A complaint was filed with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office on Jan. 19, 2020, after learning of the missing money. A letter, dated Feb. 11, 2020, was also written to the Attorney General requesting Penrod repay the money, $397 per month for two years. As of Sept. 23, 2020, there was no money returned to the family.

Stoelting asked Penrod when the last time was he sold a pre-need contract, to which he replied, “2014 or 2015.” Penrod told investigators when he received the money, he would cash the checks to keep the IRS from getting it so he could pay his bills, such as his electric and mortgage.

Penrod told officers that no one else was at fault for the mess but him, and “if the files are wrong, I’m responsible.”

Penrod will be arraigned at 10 a.m. Friday in Mississippi County.