Funeral Home Director Pleads Guilty to Contract Fraud

A local funeral home director accused of contract fraud pleaded guilty this month in Macomb County Circuit Court.

John Olszewski, who previously ran businesses in New Haven, New Baltimore and Richmond, pleaded guilty to one count of contract conversion before the case went to trial. The plea deal calls for probation and for him to pay roughly $12,000 in restitution to multiple people. A second count was dismissed under the deal that does not call for jail time, according to court files and his attorney.

Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 30 in the Mount Clemens courthouse.

The case stems from business dealings at Duncan-Olszewski Funeral Home in New Haven. New Haven police accused Olszewski of failing to set up escrow funds for pre-paid funerals and selling pre-paid funeral contracts without a valid license. The state previously revoked Olszewski and the funeral home's mortuary science license and also ordered him to pay restitution.

He is still prohibited from operating a funeral home, his Mount Clemens-based lawyer Stephen Becker said Thursday.

Local victims lost thousands of dollars when using the funeral home for services, police and prosecutors said. Approximately five or six people are due restitution under the plea deal. The maximum probation he could serve under the deal has not yet been determined, Becker said. 

Olszewski's defunct funeral home in New Baltimore, .

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