Poker Writer
A Connecticut funeral director has been accused of embezzling millions from prepaid services to fund personal gambling and pleasure trips. Phillip Pietras is facing 80 different charges stemming from an investigation that began in April.
The 51-year-old Pietras was charged with 60 counts of intent to defraud funeral services. Additionally, he was charged with 20 counts of second-degree larceny. These charges come from multiple counties in the state: East Windsor, Tolland, and Pietras’ home county of Coventry.
The investigators examined the funeral service business, which dates back to 2009. The payments he received from clients ranged from $100 to tens of thousands of dollars.
They discovered that Pietras took personal trips that were primarily centered on gambling. The trips included not only nearby excursions to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun but also cross-country ones to Las Vegas.
The amount of gambling was extensive. Investigators found that plays credited to Pietras’ accounts totaled more than $8.15 million, while his wife had plays worth more than $2 million. The majority of his gambling took place on slot machines from 2010 to 2024, resulting in a loss of $1.2 million. He also gambled online during the time period.
Spending was not limited to gambling alone as he also racked up expenses from restaurants and shopping sprees throughout Connecticut.
Due to the accusations, the Board of Embalmers revoked his license in July.
Pietras blamed human error for the losses and claimed he was not attempting to defraud anybody. He was asked by investigators if he often used business accounts to gamble Pietras denied that it it was a pre-meditated funneling of funds. He told them:
Not really, but it might be the card I had available at the time. I just did it.
There are as many as 60 victims of the defrauding and some owed as much as $165,000.
Pietras is currently being held for $800,000 bond.
