LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The owner of a local crematorium is facing a more than $500,000 penalty for performing nearly 300 illegal cremations.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman's office has been investigating Cloverport Funeral Home, Kentuckiana Funeral Services and the owner of the facilities, Anthony Oxendine, since January. Cloverport is a small town of about 1,200 in Breckinridge County.
According to a news release from Coleman's office, on Jan. 2, the office received information that led to an investigation of Cloverport Funeral Home "revealing that the facility had failed to register to operate a crematory and was providing cremation services without a license in violation of Kentucky law."
The investigation found the funeral home performed 290 illegal cremations without a license.
The attorney general's office said Friday the Breckinridge Circuit Court has ordered the facilities, and Oxendine, to pay $580,000 for those illegal cremations.
"No family should be taken advantage of during their time of grief," Coleman said in a news release.
The funeral home has been closed since the investigation began in January after Coleman secured a temporary restraining order.
'We encourage anyone who believes they've been the victim of a scam or some other illegal business practice to contact our office," Coleman said in a news release.
To report a suspected scam, call the attorney general's Consumer Protection Hotline at 1-888-432-9257 or fill out a complaint form by clicking here.
Oxendine is also the former owner of Spring Valley Funeral Home in New Albany, Indiana, which recently had its license suspended after the state found "dangerous conditions" that posed a "clear and immediate danger to public health."
An inspection of the funeral home found a strong smell of decomposition in the embalming room, a decedent who had passed away but sat unembalmed for 11 days, blood and other fluids on surfaces of the embalming room, among other issues.
Related Stories:
- Funeral home in Cloverport, Kentucky accused of cremating bodies without a license
- New Albany funeral home has license suspended after state finds 'dangerous conditions'
- Families question cremated remains after New Albany funeral home shut down for violations
- Floyd County coroner seeks help returning cremains to 13 families after Indiana shuttered funeral home
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