A bankruptcy filed by a Muskogee, Oklahoma businessman was recently dismissed because of his dealings in another state.
Tennessee officials allege Oklahoma-based Clayton Smart and his business partner mismanaged $20 million in cemetery trust funds.
Smart’s bankruptcy was dismissed one day before a Tennessee court was to conduct a hearing into whether a receiver should be appointed to manage Smart’s cemetery company. In dismissing the case, a US Bankruptcy Judge said the Tennessee state court system is the best place to resolve the legal matters involving the company, which controls three Memphis, Tennessee cemetery and funeral home operations and four cemeteries in Arkansas. Tennessee officials allege Smart filed for bankruptcy to evade regulatory penalties.
Last year, Smart told more than 13,000 people with prepaid burial contracts with his company they would have to pay more. He has blamed inflation and other people’s mismanagement for the additional payments.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2007 at 5:02 pm and is filed under Bankruptcy News and Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.