50°
Gregory J. Stefan Jr., 54, of Upper Merion, is charged with seven counts of wire fraud, according to the US Attorney's Office.
Between January 2018 and September of last year, Stefan accepted more than $1.5 million from customers who ordered memorials for loved ones, then failed to deliver the headstones they bought, authorities said.
Stefan accepted the orders from nearly 500 customers through his companies 1843 LLC and Colonial Memorials, investigators wrote in the indictment. He would routinely scan local obituaries for prospective clients, then cold call them or show up at their homes offering his services, prosecutors claim.
When one customer told him she was still grieving and not ready to buy a headstone, authorities said he called her weekly before taking $4,318 for a memorial he never delivered.
He asked for up-front payment from customers and would often cash the check the same day he received it, but did not immediately pay the headstone suppliers, and routinely missed the agreed-upon delivery dates, the indictment says.
When customers called to ask about their missing orders, Stefan "regularly either ignored them or employed lulling tactics and assured them their orders would be delivered shortly," prosecutors wrote.
Some customers' completed stones remained undelivered because Stefan had failed to pay the manufacturers for their work, authorities said.
He regularly ignored customers who demanded refunds, but was "more responsive to customers" who "threatened legal action," the US Attorney's Office noted.
In total, Stefan ripped off more than 25 percent of his business' customers from 2018 to 2023, according to the indictment.
Alleged victims of the scheme included mourning customers in Philadelphia, Pottstown, Perkasie, and Nazareth, as well as Jackson and Egg Harbor, New Jersey.
If convicted, he faces up to 140 years in prison, prosecutors said.
His brother, 1843 co-owner Jerry J. Stefan of Gladwyne, faces similar charges.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Leesport-Mohrsville and receive free news updates.
