Fraud Defendant Can’t Block Class Settlement

(CN) - An Indiana woman can complete a $10 million class-action settlement against a group of defendants that she claimed bilked millions of dollars from a cemetery trust fund.

Angela Farno had pre-paid for mausoleum space, a casket, entombment and perpetual care services at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

She later joined a class action suit that alleged that several defendants looted the trust funds from four Indiana cemeteries were part of Robert Nelms' $27 million purchase of a family mortuary business.

Matthew Goldberg, who was a partner with Nelms in a company called Indiana Investment, was accused of concealing the misappropriation of the trust funds.

Farno and the class-action defendants came to a settlement, but Goldberg tried to block it. He did not agree to the settlement and did not want to be bound by the class certification that would be part of it.

Goldberg's interlocutory appeal was rejected by the Indiana Court of Appeals, which explained that he would not be prejudiced by the class certification.

"Goldberg has failed to establish plain legal prejudice in this case. It is undisputed that the class settlement did not interfere with Goldberg's contractual rights or his ability to seek contribution or indemnification, nor did it strip him of a legal claim or cause of action," Judge Terry Crone wrote on behalf of his colleagues.

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