Fraud Scheme Involves Funeral Company Trust Fund

Advertisement

(INDIANAPOLIS) - Three co-conspirators have been indicted for their role in an elaborate scheme to steal millions of dollars from a funeral company trust fund.

In January, Robert and Deborah Nelms of New Jersey were charged with misusing the $24 million Perpetual Care Fund of the Memory Gardens Management Company. That's a state-mandated fund designed to ensure the permanent maintenance of cemeteries.

Now, David Beecher, a trust officer from Noblesville, Sherry Katz-Crank, a Michigan attorney and Mark Singer, a Philadelphia area financial agent, are all charged with theft for helping Nelms pull off the fraud scheme.

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi says Nelms bought the company for $27 million in late 2004. A few days later, he allegedly transferred the company's trust fund away from its original trustee. He illegally used that money to pay back his down payment loan, set up several sham investment accounts and used over a million dollars to buy a house in Greenwood.

Nelms is no longer involved in the Memory Gardens Management Company, which owns several cemeteries and funeral homes around the state. An attorney is now overseeing its operations at the request of Secretary of State Todd Rokita.

Print this story