Scandalous! Budapest gravediggers defrauded mourning relatives – even big-wigs involved?

The Lord Mayor of Budapest ordered an investigation because there were some financial irregularities in connection with funeral service and grace tending, the Budapest Funeral Institute revealed.

József Horváth, managing director of the institute, added that he was first informed about the issue at the end of April, and he was told that staff commits irregularities in at least four Budapest cemeteries. The complaint that reached him said that members of the funeral service staff pocketed 50-100 thousand HUF (EUR 180-330) in advance for “extras” like digging and padding a grave bigger than the ordinary. According to the anonymous declarers,

not only workers but also their managers

receive some of the defrauded money, Blikk reported.

The managing director ordered an immediate investigation regarding the issue. At the beginning of August, they suggested widening the scope of the investigation with the documents regarding gravestones and grave tending. Authorities said at the time that they could finish such a monitoring process by the end of September.

Lord Mayor István Tarlós received a complaint concerning funeral process irregularities in five Budapest cemeteries. He immediately

ordered a complete investigation

regarding the issue, so the managing director of the Budapest Funeral Institute widened the scope of their audit.

According to the statement of the institute, their goal is to provide adequate conditions for the relatives to mourn and remember their loved ones when they visit their graves in one of the 13 cemeteries operated by them.