Greenwood man admits stealing cemetery funds

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A man admits embezzling about $4.2 million in perpetual-care trust funds from a Michigan cemetery operated by his Indianapolis-based
company.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox announced Thursday that Robert Nelms of Greenwood pleaded guilty in
Kent County Circuit Court to embezzlement and failing to trust funeral contracts. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

Nelms is accused of stealing about $24 million from the trusts of funeral homes and cemeteries he controlled in Michigan
and Indiana.

About $4.2 million was taken from Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Grand Rapids. Nelms faces charges
in Indiana for the rest.

A phone message seeking comment was left Thursday for Nelms’ defense lawyer James C. Thomas.

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