Records show the license of A Community Funeral Home at Wheeler Avenue near Live Oak Street was revoked.
HOUSTON — We are learning more about previous problems involving a funeral home in Houston’s Third Ward, which is now the center of an identity theft investigation being conducted by Houston police.
The Houston Police Department is currently investigating A Community Funeral Home, located on Wheeler Avenue, after multiple families reported that their deceased loved ones had been victims of identity theft, according to a police spokesperson.
Records show the license of A Community Funeral Home at Wheeler Avenue near Live Oak Street was revoked. The Texas Funeral Service Commission said the expiry date was 8/31/2025 and the effective rank date was 8/30/2022.
When HPD investigators showed up Friday with a search warrant, a funeral service was underway, a spokesperson said. Police had to locate someone else to finish officiating the ceremony so the search could proceed.
According to the investigation, several families who used the funeral home reported that their loved ones’ identities were stolen, including fraudulent use of cards and accounts. When Financial Crimes Investigators looked into the complaints, they discovered the establishment was operating without a license, which led to the search warrant.
“When they served the search warrant, they collected financial records and computers and that kind of stuff,” HPD Lt. Larry Crowson said.
During the search, investigators did not find any other bodies at the location but did discover multiple cremated remains. Police are now working to identify and contact the families so the remains can be returned to them.
The owner of the business was released pending further investigation. No charges have been filed at this time, and the case remains under active investigation by HPD’s Financial Crimes unit.
“This is a financial crime. Those can be very in-depth investigations. You know, you have to do basically an accounting investigation of where the money went and what kind of records were used. So, it could take a while to investigate exactly who was responsible for the identity theft,” Lt. Crowson said.
KHOU 11 is now learning of previous issues involving the funeral home.
According to documents obtained by KHOU 11, A Community Funeral Home was ordered to pay a $500 administrative penalty to the Texas Funeral Service Commission in March 2019. Documents from the State Office of Administrative Hearings show that in October 2017, a purchase agreement for a family using the funeral home was not signed by the funeral director as required.
Additionally, court records indicate the funeral home owner was charged in August with forging a fraudulent lien agreement. The complaint alleges the signature was forged to perform construction on the property and to avoid eviction. The owner was arrested in early November, and the next court date on the misdemeanor forgery charge is scheduled for January.
Fast forward to now, HPD said their investigation into the alleged financial crimes and identity theft allegations is ongoing. Meanwhile, community members said they were shocked and saddened to hear that the funeral home could be accused of such crimes.
“It’s pretty disgusting to think that somebody would stoop so low to steal the identity of someone that’s passed away, you know, let them rest in peace,” said Claudia Corletto, who witnessed police activity at the scene.
KHOU 11 tried to contact the funeral home owner multiple times and left several voicemails, and KHOU 11 also reached out to their attorney of record. As of Saturday night, we had not received a response back.
This is a developing story. We’ll add more details as we learn them.
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