Posted on: Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Suit filed over funeral sales

Advertiser Staff

More than 100 Big Island residents yesterday sued the state and a man who was involved in a theft case that drained more than a half-million dollars from a trust fund for funeral plans.

The Circuit Court lawsuit is against Diego Mortuary Inc., doing business as Memorial Mortuary and Memorial Mortuary Funeral Plan Inc., and Robert Diego. He was sentenced in June to two months in jail for his part in the case. The suit is also against Diego's wife, Momi Diego, and daughter Bobbie Jean Diego.

The suit says the Big Island residents never received products sold by the Diegos. It also says the Diegos never kept sufficient funds in a trust account to fulfill prepaid burial plans sold to residents. The suit says the state should have known about the shortfalls and should have prosecuted the Diegos before the residents lost their money.