Police target coffin switch

Distraught family files fraud complaint

Janice Valigura’s family paid $1700 for an oak coffin but Rockhampton police are now investigating how it was switched for a $70 pine box.

JANICE Valigura’s family paid $1700 for an oak coffin but Rockhampton police are now investigating how it was switched for a $70 pine box.

Mrs Valigura’s family have made a fraud complaint against Harts Family Funerals after noticing the different coffin at the crematorium after the church service.

The owner of the funeral home, Tony Hart, declined to comment.

The close family of Mrs Valigura, 74, who died of a stroke on New Year’s Eve, joined more than 100 people to farewell her on Monday.

A priest blessed the silky oak casket, lined with white silk and ornate religious features, before it was taken to the Rockhampton crematorium.

But the family was told there would be a delay in the body arriving there.

Kerry Rothery, Mrs Valigura’s niece and goddaughter, said that when the coffin finally arrived “an hour late”, a family friend saw the cheap box.

He called Ms Rothery about the coffin he saw, questioning the choice.

She said she contacted the crematorium to postpone cremation so she could see the casket for herself.

Upon arrival, Ms Rothery said she found Ms Valigura had been wrapped in plastic in the cheaper coffin, silk wrap discarded and the letters written by her grandchildren and placed on her heart had been tossed haphazardly inside.

Ms Rothery said family members met Mr Hart the next day where they claim he told them the practice was “commonplace”.

A number of industry business owners said the proper practice was for someone to be cremated in the casket that had been purchased.

While one industry owner yesterday said he had heard less reputable funeral operators did make switches in the largely unregulated field, others said it was a myth with little substantiating evidence.

Owner of Fitzroy Funerals Colin Dean said there had been talk in recent years of coffins being switched.

He encouraged people to use funeral directors who were part of larger industry associations that upheld standards.

A spokeswoman for White Lady Funerals said coffin switches were largely a myth and Whitsunday Funerals and Crematorium owner Jeff Boyle said the industry lacked regulations.

“It happens far more often than people think, I’ve seen it happen myself,” he said.