Rockland County District Attorney files civil action against Scarr Funeral Home
Suffern. Prosecutors say the action freezes funds to protect victims of the ongoing investigation.
| 29 Sep 2020 | 12:05
Rockland County District Attorney Thomas E. Walsh II announced that his office has filed a civil action in State Supreme Court seeking the forfeiture of assets from the sale of Scarr Funeral Home in Suffern and associated properties of the owners, Leonard Scarr and his spouse.
This civil action was initiated to secure funds from the sale of the business to protect the victims of fraud allegedly perpetrated by Leonard Scarr.
Scarr, 53, who lives in Warwick, was indicted in September on nine counts - three counts of third-degree grand larceny, three counts of second-degree forgery and three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument. Each count carries a maximum penalty of seven years in state prison.
He is accused of forging three death certificates in order to collect funds from designated pre-paid burial escrow accounts. Authorities said each account exceeded $6,000.
The district attorney sought the temporary restraining order to prevent Scarr from disposing of certain property.
Supreme Court Justice Robert Berliner signed a temporary restraining order that froze defendants’ bank accounts and stayed the sale of the Scarr Funeral Home until further order of the court.
The investigation into the Scarr Funeral Home is continuing and is being conducted by the Ramapo Police Department and the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office.
“As we continue to investigate the financial issues surrounding Scarr Funeral Home, I felt that my office needed to protect the victims to ensure there are funds remaining from the sale of that property,” Walsh said. “The Rockland County District Attorney’s Office will ensure that the victims of this fraud are made whole.”