Headstone salesman stole $1.5 million from hundreds of ‘grieving customers,’ feds say
A Pennsylvania headstone salesman is charged after officials said he defrauded hundreds of people while they were grieving loved ones.
The 54-year-old man is charged with seven counts of wire fraud, according to a July 9 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
According to an indictment, the salesman entered into contracts with hundreds of “grieving customers” from Pennsylvania and New Jersey between January 2018 and September 2023. As part of the contracts, he agreed to provide custom headstones and engraving services, the indictment said.
However, officials said the man knew he would not deliver the headstones and services during the promised timeline, if at all.
“(He) demanded large up-front payments from his customers (often 100% of the purchase price) but routinely failed to fulfill their orders by the projected delivery date,” officials said in the news release. “When customers reached out to request updates on the status of their overdue orders, (he) either ignored them or employed lulling tactics and assured them that their orders would be delivered shortly without taking any steps to follow through on those assurances.”
The indictment said the man priced the headstones at a “very significant markup over cost” of nearly 400%. He is also accused of using payments from customers for his own personal living expenses.
The indictment said the man “failed to deliver, or provide refunds for, orders placed by almost 500 customers who had paid Stefan in excess of $1.5 million.”
McClatchy News reached out to the man’s attorney for comment but did not immediately hear back.
If convicted, he faces 140 years in prison.
This story was originally published July 10, 2024 at 3:30 PM with the headline "Headstone salesman stole $1.5 million from hundreds of ‘grieving customers,’ feds say."
