Crown drops fraud charge against disgraced former funeral director ‘New information’ led to reassessment of case, Manitoba Justice says By: Dean Pritchard Posted: 7:00 PM CST Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023

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This article was published 02/01/2023 (625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A former Winnipeg funeral director accused of defrauding dozens of grieving families is no longer facing criminal prosecution.

Chad Wheeler had been set to stand trial last September on a single count of fraud over $5,000. That trial, set to run for a month, was cancelled and on Dec. 29 the fraud charge against Wheeler was formally stayed by the Crown.

“New information came to light that led the Crown to reassess its case,” a Manitoba Justice spokesperson told the Free Press in an email Tuesday. “After a detailed and thorough review of the evidence, the Crown determined that there was no longer a reasonable likelihood of conviction.”

Ethan Pollock, Wheeler’s lawyer, would not discuss what specific factors led to the stay.

“Mr. Wheeler has maintained his innocence throughout this process and is relieved that the charge has been stayed,” Pollock said.

Wheeler, 48, who operated the Wheeler Funeral Home, Cemetery and Crematorium in Transcona, was arrested in Nov. 2020. Police alleged he had sold 76 pre-arranged funeral plans from February 2006 to February 2018, but had not placed the money — $175,000 — in a trust, as required by law.

Police said at the time 139 victims had reported losses totaling $300,000, including 40 victims who alleged money they paid for funeral insurance plans — $75,000 — had never been remitted to the insurance companies.

Wheeler filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and Wheeler Funeral Home was placed in receivership in March 2018. Wheeler’s licence was suspended that summer, pending investigations by the Funeral Board of Manitoba and Winnipeg police.

In January 2019, the funeral board revoked Wheeler’s licence after finding that he accepted money in advance for pre-arranged funeral plans and didn’t put the payments in trust on 19 different occasions. The board also found Wheeler continued selling funeral plans without a licence on six occasions.

Placing money in a trust fund for pre-arranged funeral services is required under Manitoba’s Prearranged Funeral Services Act. The board also decided Wheeler violated the code of ethics in Manitoba’s Funeral Directors and Embalmers Act.

Kathryn Hooper said after her husband Alan died in 2013, she paid Wheeler Funeral Home for his funeral, and it went smoothly. She later purchased a headstone — which was to have her name and her husband’s and future funeral services for herself at a cost of about $5,200, but after checking with the bank found it had never been deposited in a trust account. She never received the headstone, and found out her pre-arranged funeral was “no good.”

Hooper did not know the fraud charge had been stayed against Wheeler until contacted by the Free Press Tuesday.

“It just feels like a kick in the teeth from the court system,” said Hooper, 67.

“It just feels like a kick in the teeth from the court system.”–Kathryn Hooper

Hooper, who after the death of her daughter is raising a granddaughter on her own, said she has no hope of getting her money back.

“A lot of people are out of money they couldn’t afford, me being one of them,” she said.

Kerri Hirsch said Wheeler Funeral Home cremated her father, but she never received a cremation certificate.

“I am heartbroken,” Hirsch said after learning Wheeler was no longer facing criminal prosecution.

After Wheeler Funeral Home went into receivership, Hirsch said she spent three months trying to find her father’s ashes before Wheeler provided her with ashes she is still uncertain are her father’s.

“I’m going to have to spend the rest of my life hoping and praying that he’s not lying to me,” she said.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Someone once said a journalist is just a reporter in a good suit. Dean Pritchard doesn’t own a good suit. But he knows a good lawsuit.

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