New Philadelphia, Ohio - A former Newcomerstown funeral director paying off a $2.3 million civil judgment to his former employer is now the subject of a criminal indictment.

A Tuscarawas County grand jury handed down a nine-count indictment today against 55-year-old Martin M. Feldner of South Carolina. 

The indictment alleges that the former West Lafayette man engaged in various corrupt activities to embezzle more than $750,000 from Addy Funeral Home between February of 2010 and April of 2018. It includes one count of aggravated theft and four counts each of forgery and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. 

Prosecutor Ryan Styer says the first charge corresponds to overall theft and the rest are paired up for each of the methods Feldner allegedly used to embezzle from the company.  

"The indictment contemplates four different schemes that were employed, so each of those contains one forgery count and a pattern of corrupt activity count. Sometimes those are known as RICO counts. The highest level charges are felonies of the first degree and they go down to felonies of the fifth degree," he says.

Feldner is due to appear in the courtroom of Judge Edward O’Farrell on May 31st for arraignment. The judge also presided over the civil case against Feldner and ordered him to compensate the funeral home for the loss, attorneys’ fees, court costs and more than $1.5 million for punitive damages. 

TUSCO TV