Georgia Couple Charged with Breach of Trust

A Georgia couple who have managed funeral homes in Elbert County, Ga., and Calhoun Falls, S.C., have been charged with breach of trust with fraudulent intent in South Carolina.

Calhoun Falls Police Chief Mike Alewine said Devin and Whitney Richert are charged with 13 counts each of breach of trust with fraudulent intent. Devin Richert also has been charged with three counts of forgery, Alewine said.

Devin Richert, 39, and Whitney Richert, 35, live in Elberton, Ga., according to a report from Independent Mail coverage partner WSPA New Channel 7.

The two were arrested July 30 in South Carolina and were released from custody on bond the same day, Alewine said.

The two have been accused of making false contracts and improperly keeping some of the resulting revenue, Alewine said. The illegal activities are believed to have taken place between January 2005 and June 2008, the chief said.

The South Carolina arrests are related to activities that happened while the Richerts managed Calhoun Falls Funeral Home, which they have not managed since June 2008, Alewine said.

The South Carolina case will now go before a grand jury, likely in late September or early October, the chief said.

The Richerts also were the managers of Forest Hill Cemetery and Hicks Funeral Home in Elbert County, Ga., when some customers of the cemetery became victims of theft, according to authorities.

In early August 2009 the owners of Southern Funeral Association filed a complaint with the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office. The complaint dealt with thefts related to sale of burial plots at Forest Hill Cemetery on Washington Highway, according to the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Barry Haston said at the time that the thefts dated back as far as 2005. Elbert County investigators found that individuals who purchased burial plots were asked to make out checks in such a way that money was deposited into accounts other than the one belonging to the cemetery owners.

The Richerts were indicted in Georgia in 2009, but it was determined that something was wrong with those indictments, according to the clerk of court’s office in Elbert County.

New indictments were handed up Thursday, according to the clerk’s office. Devin and Whitney Richert each has now been indicted on 33 counts of theft by taking, and Whitney Richert also has been indicted on one count of forgery and one count of notary public violation.

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