Javian Major, left, and Sandy Broussard allegedly worked together to steal life insurance money from the beneficiaries of dead people in Houston. Major allegedly posed as a funeral home director as part of the scam. (Harris County Constable District 1)

Several families in Houston were scammed by a man who posed as a funeral home director so he could steal their dead loved one’s life insurance policy payouts, according to authorities.

Javian Major, 26, is facing a forgery charge after he allegedly stole a $25,000 life insurance policy from a beneficiary. As detectives from Harris County Constable Precinct 1 continued their investigation, more than 50 people came forward to allege Major scammed them as well.

“This is a case that absolutely turned my stomach,” Alan Rosen, Harris County Constable for Precinct 1, said at a press conference. “It turned my stomach because you’re dealing with people at the most vulnerable time of their lives after they lost somebody that they loved and cared for.”

Victims said Major contacted them via social media or through mutual friends, presenting himself as a funeral director and offering to take care of arrangements. But Major never followed through on his promises, the victims said. He is not a licensed funeral home director or mortician, cops say.

According to a probable cause arrest affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, the Texas Funeral Service Commission contacted the constable’s office in May 2023 to report forgeries to life insurance policies.

This included Deidre Greenleaf, who died in Houma, Louisiana, on March 22, 2023.

Her brother Ernest A’akquanakhann said at the press conference Major is related to him and he paid Major to transport the body from Louisiana to Houston. Major took the body to a crematory in Houston but allegedly forged Greenleaf’s husband’s signature. When the crematory requested the husband identify his wife’s body so she could be cremated, he realized his signature was forged and his name was spelled wrong, the affidavit said. Because of the alleged forgery, it took three months to cremate Greenleaf’s body.

Major also forged another family member’s signature to obtain Greenleaf’s insurance money, authorities say.

Though investigators have so far only charged Major in the Greenleaf case, several other alleged victims spoke at the press conference. One woman said after her son died, she paid Major to embalm his body. After repeated requests to see the embalmed body, Major allowed her and her other son to see the body at 9 p.m. at a church in a bad neighborhood, she said. She arrived at the church and got out of the car.

“The smell just hit us,” she said. “When I walked in I saw my son. His body was bloated. He was dark. He made no attempt to reconstruct my son. I told him you did not embalm my son’s body because it shouldn’t have been bloated. With that smell I had to run out of the church.”

Major claimed the church always smelled like that, she said.

Rosen said police also arrested 38-year-old Sandy Broussard who worked with Major in the scam. She’s facing a theft charge, records show.

Major and Broussard were taken to the Harris County Jail and each posted their $10,000 and $5,000 bonds, respectively.