Authorities in Texas are investigating after they say more than 50 people have come forward in what they are calling a funeral scam.
“This is a case that absolutely turns my stomach. It turns my stomach because you’re dealing with people at the most vulnerable times of their lives,” Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen said at a Jan. 26 news conference streamed by KPRC.
Javian Major and Sandy Broussard have been charged with forgery, according a Facebook post from the constable’s office.
“Allegedly, the duo conspired to forge beneficiaries’ signatures, illicitly obtaining life insurance funds and stealing thousands,” officials said.
Major is accused of pretending to be a funeral director and mortician. Not only did authorities say he stole thousands of dollars in insurance payments, but he’s accused of mishandling the bodies.
“I do not know where he had my son at, the whole time when he had his body. His body was warm, it was not cold,” one woman said at the news conference. “This is ridiculous. Somebody out there knows where he leaves these bodies at.”
Major would reach out to families after seeing online that one of their loved ones died. He would pretend he knew the deceased person and offer his services, Rosen said.
“These families would reach out, or he would reach out to them and get their confidence and get their buy-in and he would get them to give him money, he would ask them for insurance policies, “ Rosen said.
Family members of deceased loved ones spoke at the news conference. Some expressed that Major made them feel comfortable and like they could trust him.
“When a family is grieving at their lowest point, this individual had the nerve to take advantage of us,” Ernest Aakquanakhann said, according to KPRC.
Aakquanakhann said in the news conference that Major stole money from his family and forged his future brother-in-law’s signature on a document. He also said the name on his sister’s death certificate was wrong.
Their family had to go through a long process to get the money returned, but some other families said they still have not received their money back.
“In many instances people were supposed to get ashes of their loved ones and to this day, some don’t know if they got their actual loved ones’ ashes,” Rosen said.
Rosen said some funerals that were supposed to take place never happened, and some bodies that were supposed to be embalmed were not embalmed.
“When I walked in and I looked at my son, his body was bloated. He was dark,” Selena Devereaux said. “I had to run out the church because I couldn’t deal with the smell.”
Devereaux said she wonders if the ashes she wears are truly those of her son.
Rosen said authorities first became aware of the problem when the Texas Funeral Service Commission contacted them. He said most of the families impacted were in Harris County.
However, authorities believe there may be more victims and are asking anyone with information to come forward.
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