Businessman Bought Company With Its Own Money, Investigators Say

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Investigators in Tennessee say an Oklahoma businessman charged with stealing millions of dollars from a Memphis funeral home's trust funds bought the business using money from

Friday, August 10th 2007, 3:04 pm

By: News On 6

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Investigators in Tennessee say an Oklahoma businessman charged with stealing millions of dollars from a Memphis funeral home's trust funds bought the business using money from its own accounts. And a funeral home official says co-owner Clayton Smart of Okmulgee moved money around in order to buy the funeral homes.

Smart is charged with helping to steal up to $20 million from burial policy trust funds. He faces similar charges in Michigan where authorities say some $70 million is missing from 28 cemetery trust funds.

An investigator with the Tennessee Attorney General's office said Smart and associates bought Forest Hill with a $4.1 million loan and then repaid it with money from the company's trust funds.

Authorities say after the sale millions of dollars were transferred from the accounts to shell companies controlled by Smart of Oklahoma.

Smart is currently in jail in Memphis pending trial there.

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