MILWAUKEE -

The receiver for the Wisconsin Funeral Directors Association and its trust has replaced the organization's executive director and two investment advisers.

Milwaukee attorney John Wirth said he took those steps because of concerns about the solvency of the trust fund for prepaid funerals. The Wisconsin Funeral Trust could be $21 million short. About 10,500 people put their money down for prepaid funerals sold by funeral homes around the state.

The suspected shortfall is under investigation by the Department of Justice and the Department of Financial Institutions. The state alleges the money paid by consumers was invested in a high-risk hedge fund.

Wirth told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he's hired Ziegler Lotsoff Capital Management and its Red Granite division to advise the trust on the best way to handle the prepaid funeral assets.