Henryville funeral home director charged with insurance fraud: Richard Pyke accused of cashing life insurance policies on living people [The Evening News and the Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind.]

Jan. 22--A Henryville funeral home director was charged Friday with nine counts of class C felony insurance fraud in Clark County Superior Court No. 1.

Richard D. Pyke, 42, who runs R.D. Pyke Funeral Service and lost an election for Clark County Coroner in 2008, is accused of cashing in on life insurance policies of elderly people who are still living. He was arrested on Friday by Indiana State Police.

An investigation began in September after a woman called to report her father had purchased an insurance policy from Homesteaders Life Co. for his burial. She said the insurance company informed her that Pyke had cashed in the policy in 2005.

According to a probable-cause affidavit, the compliance director for the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency and ISP Detective David Makowsky found eight people who had policies with that insurance company that were cashed in while they were still living. The compliance director verified that seven of those people are still alive, while one died after the policy was cashed.

The total amount the insurance company lost on the eight claims is $65,285, according to court records. The claims were all cashed between 2005 and 2008.

In October, another woman learned of the investigation and came forward to police. She said her mother had an insurance policy through Forethought Life Insurance Co., and that, too, had been cashed by Pyke.

The daughter provided police with an Indiana Claim Form that had been submitted by Pyke to the insurance company in 2006. The claim was for $7,492, the purported cost of a funeral that never happened because the woman is still alive, according to her daughter. The claim also allegedly included a forged signature from the woman's daughter.

Pyke's attorney said he believes the accusations against Pyke are false.

"I think those are made up, but we'll see what happens," said Dick Mullineaux, Pyke's attorney.

Pyke, who once appeared on the ABC reality television show "Wife Swap" with his family, has had numerous legal troubles in recent years.

He was charged in January 2009 with class D felony domestic battery. That case is pending.Pyke's funeral license was suspended 90 days by the State Board of Funeral and Cemetery Service in February. The board determined that Pyke Funeral Service had been selling preneed services despite the fact that its Certificate of Authority, which is required to offer that service, expired in 2003.

The board also found that two death certificates obtained from Pyke Funeral Service included forged signatures from physicians. In one case, the purported certifying physician's name was spelled wrong on the document, and another time, the doctor's license number was incorrect. Both physicians said they never signed those death certificates.

In addition to the suspension, Pyke was fined $2,000 and placed on probation for two years. In March, a judge in Clark County Superior Court No. 2 granted a stay of the suspension pending review. That case is also pending.

Also, a Jeffersonville woman filed a lawsuit in October accusing Pyke of taking weeks to bring her the cremated remains of her 5-year-old daughter, and then finally delivering them in a faulty urn that was leaking ashes.

David Mosley, the mother's attorney, also has been looking into the insurance fraud cases. Mosley said it is the insurance companies that actually lost money in the fraud, but he says the families of the deceased are "outraged."

"I've been contacted by some of the victims in that case, and we're looking at possible civil action against Mr. Pyke," Mosley said.

ISP is asking anyone who owns a preburial insurance plan through R.D. Pyke Funeral Services to contact their insurance company to confirm it has not been cashed in prematurely. If you are a victim, contact Detective David Makowsky at the ISP at Sellersburg at 812-246-2509.

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