By Rachel Lippmann
St. Louis – Another official with a now-defunct prepaid funeral company has been indicted.
Sharon N. Province was the office manager and a president of National Prearranged Services, which sold prepaid funeral plans to customers in 19 states from its headquarters in Clayton.
The federal indictment announced Thursday charges Province with five felony counts of mail fraud for her role in a scheme that bankrupted National Prearranged and other related companies.
Province and her boss, Randall Sutton, are accused of using money customers had deposited with the company for the funerals for other purposes. That left the companies unable to pay for the services customers had ordered. Federal prosecutors say the fraud lasted for 10 years.
Sutton was indicted in August on nine felony counts.