State Orders 3 Neptune Society Offices to Tighten Procedures

State regulators ordered the Neptune Society’s San Pedro, Santa Barbara and Burbank funeral homes to tighten their procedures Thursday, charging that employees mishandled customer payments.

The San Pedro funeral home had also been accused of mishandling three 1991 deaths.

The order was part of a three-year probation agreement handed down by the California Department of Consumer Affairs and closed a years-long investigation of the cremation company’s only locations in the state.

Without admitting guilt, the independent franchises accepted the terms of the probation, including a financial audit and reimbursement for the cost of the state’s investigation.

“These penalties were the most appropriate,” said Nancy Hardaker of the consumer affairs agency. “We had originally examined taking their licenses, but hundreds of families had made pre-death arrangements with Neptune. We couldn’t leave them without a means of putting their loved ones to rest.”

Neptune Society spokesman Larry Miller said the California offices “will diligently follow the procedures designated and keep up the procedures the company already had in place.”

The Neptune Society offices were charged with failing to place $12 million of prepaid fees in the proper account, a trust fund, as required by state regulations.

They also failed to grant timely refunds to customers who canceled contracts, regulators said.

The allegations against the San Pedro funeral home involved:

* The corpse of Bertram Carter of Los Angeles, which was discovered at that facility after employees told his family it had been cremated and the ashes scattered at sea.

* The body of Gary Manoff, which was allegedly taken from his nursing home bed and cremated without proper authority.

* Charges that the funeral home gave the widow of former Burbank Mayor Dallas Williams the remains of someone else.

The families of all the deceased have already reached civil settlements with the Neptune Society, including a $1-million award for Williams’ widow.

Miller would not comment specifically on the settlements but added: “Of course we’re concerned about the families of the deceased and will continue to do all we can to ensure they are satisfied with us.”

The company picks up, stores and arranges the disposal of about 4,000 bodies each year from its three California locations and offices in New York and Florida.

The California funeral homes still face a civil suit filed in January by the Kern County district attorney alleging the improper disposal of the cremated remains of 54 bodies.