Oz undertaker charged with stealing jewellery from corpses

MELBOURNE - An undertaker in Australia has been charged with stealing jewellery from corpses that he had been asked to bury or cremate.

Police are not clear how long the 66-year-old man, from NSW north coast, has been stealing, but a criminal investigation began in September when a large amount of jewellery was handed in, the Courier Mail reported.

The police have tracked down the families of four of the deceased after they positively identified several items of the jewellery, and in each case the relatives had wanted the jewellery to be buried with their loved ones.

The undertaker, who was arrested on December 22 following a raid at the funeral home, has been charged with four counts of larceny and two counts of goods in custody and bailed to appear at Ballina Local Court on January 20.

Now the police are left with a large amount of unaccounted for jewellery and they have urged families to contact them. (ANI)