Funeral Home Director Pleads Guilty To Misappropriating Funds, Forging Death Certificates

A funeral home director pleaded guilty Tuesday after authorities alleged he forged death certificates, misappropriated funds for prepaid funerals, and bilked the federal government of disability benefits.

David Wayne Faust, 53, of Hulmeville, pleaded guilty to felony charges of theft by deception, two counts of forgery, tampering with public records, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds, deceptive business practices and identity theft; and misdemeanor charges of identity theft and falsely pretending to hold a professional or occupational license, according to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office.

Bucks County Judge Diane Gibbons on Tuesday ordered Faust, the owner of Faust Funeral Home on Bellevue Avenue in Hulmeville, to be held in county lockup on 10 percent of $750,000 bail.

A sentencing date for Faust has not yet been set, but Gibbons said the 53 year old is facing a “significant” sentence.

Faust’s troubles began with his April 2017 arrest for falsifying death certificates and collecting more than $100,000 in federal Social Security disability benefits while working. Investigators said that Faust forged doctors’ signatures on death certificates instead of following procedure.

In the months that followed, Faust faced additional charges after Bucks County Detectives uncovered that Faust had not reported prepayments for funeral services to the state, violating the law. Further probing found that Faust had used $296,853 in prepaid funeral funds from 54 clients, most over the age of 60, for his own use between 1999 and 2016, according to prosecutors.

In one case, Faust forged a death certificate for a woman and removed more than $8,700 from her funeral account in 2003. Deputy District Attorney Marc Furber said detectives later found the woman “was alive and well and living in Hulmeville.” The prosecutor added that the woman had no idea she had been declared dead by Faust, who put she had died of small cell cancer.

County detectives and a special agent from the Social Security Administration uncovered that Faust received more than $100,000 in benefits between 2013 and January 2017, according to court papers.

In a form filed with the Social Security Administration, Faust reportedly said he had been out of work due to a disability since 2013 and failed to mention his work at the family funeral home in his list of daily tasks.

“You guys did do your homework,” Faust allegedly told detectives while they were investigating.

According to its Yelp page, Faust Funeral home has been open since 1946 and uses “modern technology” with “old fashioned values.” Faust is the grandson of the founder.

The district attorney’s office said more than 20 victims have had their funeral prepayments repaid in part of fully by the Pennsylvania Victims Compensation Assistance Program. However, the payments are less than $42,000 of the amount stolen. As of this week, more than $255,000 remains unpaid and money remains owned to the Social Security Administration.