By Laura Eimiller
It’s a morbid tale involving phony death certificates, staged funerals with paid actors, and coffins buried with no bodies, but in the end, it’s just a financial fraud scheme like thousands of others the FBI investigates every year.
Jim Davis did not pass through these gates after all. (Photo courtesy FBI)
Earlier this month in Los Angeles, the fourth and final member of an insurance fraud ring was convicted in federal court. Jean Crump—a former mortuary employee—was found guilty of joining three other women in a scheme to defraud insurance companies by filing $1.2 million in phony life insurance policy claims.
Also victimized were several financial assignment companies, often used by funeral homes and mortuaries to advance cash for funeral expenses in exchange for a portion of the deceased’s life insurance policies.
How The Scam Worked
In one instance, Crump and/or her co-schemers purchased life insurance policies for “Jim Davis,” naming his supposed “nephew” and “niece” as beneficiaries.
Mr. Davis conveniently had an untimely demise, and the conspirators created false documents, including a death certificate with a doctor’s forged signature, to collect his life insurance. They also prepared grossly inflated bills for different amounts from a mortuary to cover the man’s funeral and burial costs and wired the bills to two different assignment companies.
Both assignment companies paid the mortuary (one nearly $30,000 and the other just over $16,000), but of course the money went right into the hands of the criminals—the mortuary was owned and operated by Lydia Pearce, one of the four charged in the investigation. And an insurance company paid out more than $230,000 in life insurance to Mr. Davis’ so-called nephew.
The criminals went so far as to purchase a burial plot for Mr. Davis and bury him, without a headstone. But despite the extravagant funeral described on paper for the financial assignment companies—including an ornate casket and elaborate floral arrangements—the funeral was a simple affair, attended by several phony family members recruited to play the part of mourners in case anyone was watching.
Each member of the fraud ring brought her own expertise to the table: Crump and Pearce, with their mortuary experience, knew all there was to know about funerals and death documents. Phlebotomist Faye Shilling knew the ins and outs of filing insurance claims, and notary Barbara Ann Lynn used her stamp to make the fake documents look legitimate.
How The Scam Unraveled
Two insurance companies began looking more closely at the claims and hired an investigator to ask questions. The con artists were so unnerved by this that they had the coffin supposedly holding the remains of Jim Davis unearthed. They filled the casket with a mannequin and cow parts to ensure the proper weight and then sent it to a crematory. Then, they filed phony paperwork stating that he had been cremated and had his ashes scattered over the Pacific Ocean.
The FBI’s Los Angeles office eventually became involved. Upon closer inspection of the life insurance policies, death certificates, funeral bills, and financial information of the ring members, our investigators gathered the evidence needed to charge the four women—whose scheme ultimately met its own demise.
The Court Case
Jean Crump, 67, of South Los Angeles, was found guilty of two counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud, charges that cumulatively carry a statutory maximum sentence of 90 years in prison.
Crump, who worked at the now-defunct Simpson and McGee Mortuary in Lynwood, participated in a scheme to defraud insurance companies by filing fraudulent claims against $1.2 million in life insurance policies for an individual who had not died as claimed.
As part of the scheme, Crump and her accomplices caused bogus death certificates to be prepared, purchased a burial plot, buried an empty casket, and staged a phony funeral to lend credibility to the scheme.
After two insurance companies began investigating the claims, Crump and her accomplices exhumed the casket, filled it with a mannequin and cow parts, and had the casket cremated. Crump and her accomplices filed false documents with the County of Los Angeles stating that the remains were cremated and scattered at sea, even though no corpse existed. Crump offered a medical doctor $50,000 to create medical records supporting the fake death certificate.
Crump and her accomplices also defrauded several companies that advance cash to cover funeral expenses in exchange for a portion of the decedent’s life insurance policies. They prepared four fake invoices claiming that the phony funeral was held at three different mortuaries, and two companies advanced costs to cover the phony funeral.
The jury in the case was unable to reach a verdict on two mail fraud charges related to a $50,000 life insurance policy for a woman who had died in 2004.
Crump is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Dean D. Pregerson on November 29.
Faye Shilling, 61, of Hawthorne, who was scheduled to go to trial with Crump, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud shortly before the trial. Shilling also is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Pregerson on November 29.
Barbara Ann Lynn, 64, of Los Angeles, previously pleaded guilty in relation to the scheme and was sentenced to serve one year of home detention as part of a three-year period of probation. The fourth defendant in the case, Lydia Eileen Pearce, 35, of Signal Hill, pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on November 8.
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