SPRINGFIELD - The managers of a now defunct pre-need funeral trust fund violated state law and should return nearly $10 million in excess fees they collected over a six year span, Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes said Tuesday.

Marking the latest chapter in a saga that has spawned at least two lawsuits, a proposed new law and a legislative task force, Hynes is demanding the Illinois Funeral Directors Association repay $9.6 million it received in excess of what was allowed by state law.

"These excess management fees are a display of greed and a betrayal of the consumer trust that will not be tolerated," Hynes said in a statement.

Under Illinois law, consumers are allowed to prepay for their funeral services. Funeral homes are required to place those funds in a trust until the money is needed for the services.

The Illinois Funeral Directors Association administered the trust, but Hynes said an audit found the organization took in more than the legal amount of earnings over a six year period. He is threatening legal action if the money isn't repaid.

The association did not immediately respond to requests for information.

The action is the second move in recent weeks by Hynes aimed at cracking down on the pre-need funeral industry in the wake of the collapse of the IFDA trust fund.

Last month he began pushing legislation that would strip funeral homes of the ability to manage pre-need funeral sales.

Hynes wants money brought in for pre-need sales to be held by an independent trustee, who would be overseen by state regulators.

A House panel Tuesday endorsed the proposal over the objections of state Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington.

Brady, a former funeral home owner, said Hynes has known about problems with the trust fund for more than three years, but only began taking action after the issue began gaining public attention earlier this year.

Brady says Hynes should wait for results from a legislative task force which is probing not just pre-need funeral sales, but similar sales by cemeteries. That task force could issue a report later this year.

"It's too bad when politics gets in the way of doing what's right for the people of Illinois," Brady said Tuesday.