The former co-owner of an Ionia County funeral home pleaded no contest to 73 felony counts stemming from an embezzlement scheme.
Marti Schrauben has already served 16 months in prison after being found guilty in relation to the embezzlement scheme he ran through Schrauben Lehman Funeral Home between 2008 and 2010.
Schrauben served as funeral director, and stole more than $400,000 dollars by forging death certificates for people who were still living. He also submitted fake insurance claims.
He would forge the owners names on checks and deposit the money into his personal business account. He would also ask customers to write checks for pre-paid funerals, those checks would be payable to his personal account.
In May of 2014 he was found guilty of 26 felony charges. Those charges include conducting a criminal enterprise, Uttering and Publishing, Insurance Fruad, and Embezzlement.
A judge later issued a direct verdict which dismissed two counts of conducting a criminal enterprise, and eight counts of embezzlement.
Following the dismissal of those 10 charges, 73 felony charges were filed against Schrauben. Those 73 charges were dismissed by the trial judge, and the Department of the Attorney General appealed. The Court of Appeals overturned the dismissal, and the charges moved forward.
A sentencing date has not been scheduled.
