Cemetery fraud is national issue

To the editor:In response to the story "Abandoned cemeteries": The Michael Graham group was the owner of our local perpetual-care cemetery as well. Right now we are pursuing legal action against the group and the person it claims to have sold the cemetery to (but it is still represented on the board of directors). These same problems such as lack of maintenance have occurred in many states. I don't think the company has been dissolved, at least not according to our research. The name may have been changed, but it is still operating as far as we can determine.

These problems with cemeteries and funeral homes are a national problem. The entire industry is consumed with fraud by major holders in the industry. Our local newspaper wants only what we provide to them in the form of letters to the editor but is unwilling to pursue the big story on a national level and perhaps help expose the fraud and illegalities of the entire funeral and death industry.

In Texas, the only people making any money from the endowment funds are the banks who are withholding huge fees from the principals. The cemeteries legally get the interest only for upkeep. But often the care fees are not deposited by the cemetery owners or funeral homes. Maybe your reporters would take on the expose of this fraudulent industry and provide a service to every American.

CONNIE CHANCE, Sweetwater, Texas