Funeral director says shock coffin swap was 'temporary'

A Queensland funeral home accused of swapping a grandmother's expensive coffin for a cheap pine box has said it was only done so the pricey casket wouldn't crack.

Rockhampton funeral director Tony Hart has told The Courier-Mail his company, Harts Family Funerals, only moved the woman's body to a crematorium in a cheaper box to protect the structural integrity of the $1700 casket purchased by her family.

"The coffin she was cremated in was the same one that the family bought," Mr Hart has told the newspaper, after police said they were investigating complaints from the family of 74-year-old Janice Cecilia Valigura.

Mr Hart said there had been a delay at the crematorium which meant the coffin had to be placed in a freezer prior to cremation and the cheap pine box was a transfer shell.

Queensland Police are still investigating the matter and have spoken to people from the funeral parlour and the crematorium.

Ms Valigura's son Mick Valigura on Thursday said the family was shocked by what had happened.

"I just don't want this to happen to anyone else," he told The Morning Bulletin.

Yesterday, Detective Sergeant Craig Strohfeldt told media that the case was rare.

"Detectives from the Rockhampton Criminal Investigation Branch are investigating an alleged fraud complaint that was made to police on the ninth of January and involves a local funeral company," he said.

"It is quite a serious matter and we’re putting a lot of resources into the investigation.

"In my experience I've never received a complaint of this nature. It is quite unusual."

Anton Brown, president of the Queensland Funeral Directors Association, said changing coffins during funerals was not common practice.

"When people choose a funeral director they put a lot of trust in that person. This person who has done this to the family has broken their trust," he said.

"It's like buying a Mercedes and getting a Toyota Corolla."