State Warned About Firm Behind Burr Oak

By Anthonia Akitunde in News on Jul 18, 2009 9:15PM

The state was warned in 2001 of “irregularities in the cemetery maintenance trust fund” of a Calumet Park cemetery owned by the same firm that owns Burr Oak, according to a former employee.

Regulators in Comptroller Dan Hynes’ office were warned of these irregularities as they reviewed the company’s, Perpetua Holdings of Illinois Inc., application to buy Burr Oak, the Tribune reports. Burr Oak, a historic African-American cemetery in Alsip, is still reeling from news that four employees removed 300 bodies from their graves to resell the plots.

Former employee James E. Becker said he “urged” the comptroller’s office to investigate how money was handled at Cedar Park, the Calumet Park cemetery owned by Perpetua, before the comptroller approved the sale of Burr Oak, the Tribune reports. Becker believed money that was supposed to be used for cemetery maintenance was “in jeopardy.”

Alan Henry, a spokesman for the comptroller’s office, said it “aggressively” investigated these claims:

...as a result of the review of the trust fund practices at Cedar Park, Perpetua took corrective actions “which included repayment by Perpetua to the trust fund.” That scrutiny actually held up the transfer of Burr Oak to Perpetua, he said.

Burr Oak has been in the hot seat for years. According to the Tribune, the cemetery ignored state laws regarding burial plot sales in 2001 and 2007 and that the cemetery received an F rating from the Chicago and Northern Illinois Better Business Bureau for failing to “address customer complaints, including missing headstones” since 2007.

[Trib]