OK oil man ClaytonSmart bought funeral homes in several states, including TNand MI. Then he and several others raided the pre-paid burial trust funds.
"Trust fund cash went everywhere. Investigators say Smart and his team even used Michigan trust fund money to help finance the acquisition of more cemeteries, this time in Tennessee. Cash quickly began to drain from those trust funds as well."
"According to Michigan"™s attorney general, Mike Cox, the Oklahoman, Clayton Smart, took over 28 Michigan cemeteries in August 2004 from the lawyer, Craig Bush. Over the next couple of months, Messrs. Smart and Bush allegedly managed to remove the millions that luckless consumers had prepaid for graves and markers and perpetual care under the none-too-watchful gaze of the state"™s regulators and auditors, who finally noticed, 18 months later, that the money was gone."
On April 24, Smart; his personal lawyer, Stephen Smith; and Singer were indicted in Tennessee on charges of theft, conspiracy, and money laundering. Smart faces additional charges in Michigan for racketeering and embezzlement.
Smith drove to Tennessee in April and turned himself in; he was released on $20,000 bail. Police arrested Singer at his"”check that: his wife"™s"”New Hope home on April 27. He appeared in a Memphis courtroom, wearing a prison jumpsuit, where he pleaded not guilty.
Smart was arrested and held at the Okmulgee city jail, where he awaited a decision by the court on whether he would be sent first to Michigan or Tennessee.
On May 24, a hearing on Smart"™s extradition took place in a cramped ground-floor courtroom at the Okmulgee courthouse. Reporters packed the room, along with a handful of defendants facing drug, assault, and check-fraud charges. A few locals showed up"”friends and acquaintances of Smart"™s who knew him from church and around town.
Just past 9:30 in the morning, Smart was led in. He was handcuffed, shackled, and wearing a gray-and-black-striped prison jumpsuit. Sitting in the jury box while awaiting the judge"”no other chairs were available because of all the spectators"”Smart grumbled to the guard sitting beside him, cursing about the assembled reporters. As the hearing proceeded, Smart told the judge he would not fight extradition to Tennessee.
The hearing over, Smart was led out of the courtroom. He glanced over at a local cattle rancher he knew who had come to see the hearing. Smart nodded his head, waved from below his waist, where his hands were chained, and disappeared through the courtroom door, perhaps never to return to Oklahoma until the day of his burial.
Sounds like he's getting what he deserves, too bad for the folks he swindled.
__________________
Kevin Haendiges
NAHC Life Member
NRA Member
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http://hunting-indiana.com
Rest in Peace-Not!!!!
