Grieving families in Houston are making sure that a two-person team have kicked the bucket on their fraudulent funeral business.
According to Click2Houston, Javian Major is charged with forgery while his business partner, Sandy Broussard, is charged with theft after the duo allegedly conspired to illegally obtain the life insurance policies from the families of deceased relatives.
An investigation of the two went underway by the Harris County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office and Texas Rangers after the Texas Funeral Service Commission received complaints of Major and Brossard operating without a funeral business license. Multiple people have come forward to allege that they were deceived by the two, who worked together to commit fraud.
“It turns my stomach because you’re dealing with people at the most vulnerable time of their lives after they’ve lost somebody that they loved and cared for," said Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen. “And for me, that’s what makes this case so important. The victims, the families behind me are people that were taken advantage of. They were manipulated. And they were completely snowballed. And fraud was committed against them.”
Rosen detailed that Major would pursue those who'd recently lost a relative, claimed that he was a funeral director, and would get them to send money. Majors would also receive their insurance policy information before allegedly forging signatures on documents, ultimately taking the insurance money in the scheme.
“He got a suit on. He looking real nice, you know, he’s like, ‘Oh, this is my business card,’ like, he got it all planned out just like a scammer does,” an alleged victim said.
Families who expected to have funeral services done weren't given them and some also noticed that the deceased bodies of their loved one weren't properly taken care of. Others are unclear whether the ashes they've been given belong to their relatives.
“When I walked in and I looked at my son, his body was bloated. He was dark,” said another alleged victim. “I had to run out the church because I couldn’t deal with the smell.”
Major and Brossard are currently out on bond but an ongoing investigation into the matter is taking place.
