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New Hope biz man indicted in cemetery scandal |
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Written by DeadGirl
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Saturday, 28 April 2007 |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A financial advisor from New Hope, Pa. has been indicted on theft and money laundering charges in Memphis due to his alleged involvement with a funeral home and cemetery owner accused of stealing millions from cemetery trust funds.
Mark Singer, 41, of New Hope, Pa., has been taken into custody on the charges and is awaiting extradition to Tennessee, according to Memphis District Attorney Bill Gibbons.
Along with Singer, the grand jury yesterday also indicted Clayton R. Smart, 67, and Stephen Smith, 60, business partners from Oklahoma, on the theft and money laundering counts.
Tennessee officials allege that Smart, Smith and Singer looted more than $20 million from trust funds for three cemeteries and funeral homes in Memphis owned by Smart and Smith.
The indictment announcement came a day after Smart, an oil speculator, was arrested and charged in a related case in Michigan.
"They raided the trust and moved the money to other funds for their personal benefit,’’ Gibbons said in a telephone interview from Memphis.
He said the office will try to track down that money and return it to the over 13,000 families in the Memphis area affected by the theft.
"I can’t tell you today how much we’ll be able to recover, but I hope it’s a sizable part,’’ he said.
In Michigan, Smart is charged with 39 felony counts of racketeering, embezzlement and misuse of cemetery funds. Attorney General Mike Cox said Smart is accused of embezzling up to $70 million from 28 Michigan cemetery trust funds.
"The defendant’s actions are appalling, embezzling trust funds that were set aside to care for cemeteries and pay for burials," Cox said.
"The citizens of Michigan -- and most importantly, the families with loved ones in these cemeteries -- should rest assured that this conduct will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Smart is being held in Oklahoma with bond set at $4.2 million -- $300,000 for the charges in Tennessee and another $3.9 million for the Michigan charges, said James Poulin, chief criminal investigator with the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Department.
Poulin said the Okmulgee County sheriff’s office wants to extradite Smart either to Michigan or Tennessee, but he is fighting it.
Calls to Smart and Smith seeking comment were not immediately returned. Singer couldn’t be located for comment.
A Tennessee judge has allowed state regulators to take over the three funds in Memphis. Michigan authorities have also seized control of Smart’s funeral businesses there.
The Tennessee case stems from Smart’s announcement last July that more than 13,000 people with prepaid burial contracts would have to pay more -- thousands of dollars in some cases -- for those contracts to be honored.
Smart has blamed the problems on inflation and other people’s mismanagement.
The Tennessee indictment claims that Smart, Smith and Singer stole trust fund money and transferred it into various accounts and businesses under the guise of investing the money for the benefit of the trusts. In reality, the benefit was to the defendants.
State officials say the value of the trusts dropped from approximately $29 million in 2004 to about $9 million at the end of 2006 as a result of their actions.
Michigan charged Smart with embezzling $61 million that had been set aside for burials and maintenance and failing to set aside an additional $9 million as required by state law for cemeteries 10 acres and larger.
The Tennessee theft and money laundering charges carry a sentence of eight to 12 years in prison. A third charge, conspiracy to commit theft, carries a sentence of three to six years.
Smart faces another 20 years in Michigan, if convicted.
http://www.trentonian.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18274592&BRD=1697&PAG=461&dept_id=44551&rfi=6
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