Former PB funeral home owner, wife arrested on theft charges

A former Poplar Bluff, Missouri, funeral home operator and his wife are facing Class C felony charges of receiving stolen property after a lengthy investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Missouri Attorney General's Office into alleged thefts from the business.

Amanda Moore, 39, and Andrew Moore, 41, of Poplar Bluff turned themselves into the Butler County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday evening and Thursday, respectively. Both posted a $10,000 cash bond.

The pair were among a group of investors known as MVP Investment Group, which was the owner of the former Moore Funeral Home in Poplar Bluff.

"The investors of the business believed they found many discrepancies with the business practices of Andrew Moore, which led to the company parting ways with Andrew Moore and Amanda Moore in March of 2019," a probable cause statement from Missouri State Highway Patrol investigator Brenda Cone said.

"On Wednesday, April 24, 2019, the Poplar Bluff Police Department requested that the Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop E criminal investigative unit investigate possible stealing from Moore Funeral Home or MVP Investment Group," Cone said in her statement.

Amanda Moore

The investors of the business, Cone said, "believe another investor, Andrew Moore, had stolen a large sum of money from the business."

At the time the investigation began, Andrew Moore was Butler County coroner and Amanda Moore worked for the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

During a meeting of investors, Cone said, "it was agreed a forensic financial audit would be conducted before proceeding with the investigation."

That audit was conducted by Anders CPAs and Advisers, which specializes in funeral home audits.

"During the audit, auditors discovered there was fraudulent use of Moore Funeral Home funds on several occasions," the probable cause statement said.

Multiple interviews were conducted by investigators, where they learned "both Andrew and Amanda Moore disposed of MVP Investment Group funds by making unauthorized purchases," Cone's statement said.

During the investigation, Cone said, investigators "learned both Andrew and Amanda Moore disposed of MVP Investment Group funds in excess of $35,000 in unauthorized purchases between Dec. 22, 2014 and Nov. 30, 2018."

Examples of such purchases presented in the probable cause statement include more than $9,000 paid to AT&T "for the Moore's family members' personal cellular telephone plans, and over $1,000 was paid to Walmart for personal items," Cone said.

Additional unauthorized purchases were made at Amazon and other various stores online and in person, it was reported.

Poplar Bluff attorney Scott Robbins of the Kennedy, Kennedy, Robbins and Yarbro law firm, who represents MVP Investment Group, said in a news release it "is regrettable that such a situation occurred" and that "no customer funds were involved," and all pre-need funeral policies remain secure.

"The company discovered multiple transfers of funeral home funds for the Moore's personal use," Robbins said. "Our investigation, conducted in conjunction with an external fraud expert, uncovered the monies that were unlawfully converted. The company removed Mr. Moore from the partnership immediately upon these incidents coming to light."

The remaining partners, Robbins said, have "fully complied with a criminal investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Attorney General's Office."

"We will make every effort to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future, and will have no further comment at this time out of respect to the ongoing criminal proceedings," Robbins added.

Butler County (Missouri) Presiding Commissioner Vince Lampe was unaware of any wrongdoing in the county coroner's office while Moore served in that position and said no investigation is being done there.

Both Andrew Moore and Amanda Moore are to appear at 9 a.m. Dec. 6, before Butler County Associate Circuit Judge John Shock for initial arraignment in their cases.

Amanda Moore is represented by Poplar Bluff attorney Danny Moore, while Andrew Moore does not have an attorney listed on Casenet, Missouri's online court reporting system.

Assistant Attorney General George Lankford has been assigned as a special prosecutor.

If convicted, the Moores could face between three and 10 years in prison on the Class C felony of receiving stolen property, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.