Spanish Police Bust Alleged Corpse-Selling Racket

Spanish police announced on Monday that they caught the owners of a funeral home in Valencia. The owners are accused of selling dead bodies to university research departments for 1,200 euros per corpse. 

The police arrested four individuals - two owners and two employees - who are accused of not only selling bodies to universities but also assisting in getting rid of them afterward. After the bodies were studied, they allegedly either incinerated them or disposed of their dismembered parts in other coffins designated for cremation. The majority of the bodies involved were from individuals who did not have any family.

The suspects "falsified documentation to get the bodies from hospitals and retirement homes in order to later sell them to universities for research for 1,200 ($1,300) per corpse," said a police statement. The suspects had sold at least 11 bodies, it added.

In certain instances they allegedly charged the universities for cremations that were never carried out. "They billed one university 5,040 euros for incinerating 11 bodies after being studied, which were not accounted for in the invoices of any of the crematoriums in the city," police said.

In early 2023, the police started looking into the case after discovering that two funeral home workers used fake documents to take a body from a hospital morgue. Instead of burying it, they brought the body to university researchers. The body belonged to a man who was supposed to be buried in his hometown, and the burial expenses were covered by the local council. However, it was sold for research without anyone's permission.

The suspects sought individuals who had passed away without any living relatives, preferably foreigners, according to the police. In another instance, the suspects allegedly convinced an elderly man with mental impairments to agree to donate his body for scientific purposes. Although the donor form specified sending the body to a particular medical facility, it was ultimately taken to another facility that offered more money, as per the police statement.

The individuals involved are being charged with fraud and falsifying documents.