Michigan funeral home manager faces fraud-related charges

Manistee – A man who formerly managed a funeral home in Michigan’s northwestern Lower Peninsula is facing charges after authorities say he didn’t properly handle prepaid funeral contracts.

WPBN-TV reports 69-year-old Denis Johnson was arrested this week and is facing fraud-related charges. He managed Johnson Funeral Home in Manistee, which the state had ordered shut down in 2016.

A telephone number related to the funeral home rang busy on Friday morning. It’s wasn’t immediately known if Johnson had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.

He’s scheduled to return to court Oct. 2.

Following the shutdown order, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs says funeral services continued at the funeral home without mortuary science licenses.