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Philip Pietras, 51, of Coventry, was taken into custody on Sunday, April 6, and charged with first-degree larceny, according to Connecticut State Police.
Police began investigating Pietras in October 2024 after a financial agency that manages funds for disabled adults reported discrepancies in payments sent to one of Pietras’ funeral homes.
Pietras owns four funeral homes, including Bassinger and Dowd Funeral Home in East Windsor, Tolland Memorial Funeral Home in Tolland, Coventry-Pietras Funeral Home in Coventry, and Burke-Fortin Funeral Home in Vernon.
The whistleblower said they noticed at least eight of her clients had sent checks to Pietras to pre-pay for funeral services, but the money was not showing up in their accounts, authorities said.
Instead of placing the money in interest-accruing escrow accounts, police say Pietras kept dozens of checks and used the money for personal expenses.
While the agency reported the issue to police in October, the whistleblower contacted Pietras in September. He allegedly promised to resolve the problems within two weeks but failed to do so, according to the arrest warrant.
Rather than follow through, Pietras stopped returning their calls and emails and avoided investigators from the Department of Public Health, who were looking into a complaint filed against one of his businesses, police said.
Pietras later told police it was all a misunderstanding, blaming the issue on “the age of the accounts, accounting problems, checks getting filed improperly, COVID, and the frequency of how checks are received,” the arrest warrant stated.
He promised to fix the situation right away, but that didn't happen, police said.
Investigators accuse Pietras of embezzling $71,950 from multiple people. Much of that money was spent at casinos in Springfield, Massachusetts, Atlantic City, New Jersey, Las Vegas, and Clearwater, Florida, officials said. Cash also ended up at restaurants and stores across the state.
"There are inumerable charges for restaurants and shopping ventures across" Connecticut, the warrant continued.
Pietras was released on a $50,000 bond, authorities said.
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