Owners of Funeral Home With Decaying Bodies Are Charged With Covid Relief Fraud
The New York TimesApril 15, 2024News
Context:
Jon and Carie Hallford were arrested on Sunday on federal charges that they fraudulently obtained more than $880,000 in pandemic relief money. They owned Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs and Penrose, Colorado. They were arrested last year after at least 190 bodies were found decomposing at their funeral home. The Hallfords were scheduled to appear before a federal judge in Denver on Monday afternoon.
Dive Deeper:
-
A couple from Colorado, Jon and Carie Hallford, were re-arrested for fraudulently obtaining over $880,000 in pandemic relief funds, spending it on vacations and personal items, as reported by the FBI and court records.
-
The Hallfords, owners of Return to Nature Funeral Home in Colorado Springs and Penrose, are facing 15 federal fraud charges in addition to state charges, including corpse abuse, related to the discovery of 190 decomposing bodies at their funeral home.
-
The federal charges come after a previous incident where authorities found decaying bodies at the Penrose funeral home, which was described as ‘horrific’ and ‘very disturbing.’
-
Jon and Carie Hallford were set to appear before a federal judge in Denver, with no listed lawyers in federal court documents and their state charges representatives not responding to requests for comment.
-
If convicted in the federal case, the Hallfords could each face up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, according to the federal indictment, with prosecutors yet to comment on the case.
-
Between March 2020 and October 2021, the Hallfords received three separate payments totaling $882,300 in small-business loans for pandemic relief, falsely claiming no involvement in criminal activity while engaging in wire fraud to defraud their business customers.
-
The Hallfords’ actions highlight a disturbing case of alleged fraud and misuse of pandemic relief funds, shedding light on the consequences of such deceptive practices.