3 indicted over missing trust funds
Published April 29th, 2007
Oklahoma oilman Clayton Smart and two other men have been indicted by a Tennessee grand jury on allegations that they stole from cemetery trust funds, prosecutors said Friday.
Some $20 million set aside by 13,000 families to pay for burials and cemetery upkeep is gone, the Tennessee prosecutors say.
The indictments were released one day after Michigan authorities charged Smart, 67, with 39 felonies in the alleged embezzlement of up to $70 million in trust funds from cemeteries in that state.
Also indicted in Tennessee are Smart’s business partner, Stephen Smith, 60, of Muskogee County, and broker Mark Singer, 41, of New Hope, Pa.
Smart and Smith own Forest Hill Cemeteries and Funeral Homes in Tennessee. Singer was a broker for Smith Barney.
All three men were in custody Friday, but Smith was subsequently released on bond.
The indictments against the three allege theft of property, conspiracy to commit theft, and money laundering.
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