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That is how one woman swindled by a Tipene Funerals employee and Casketeers star described former undertaker Fiona Bakulich.
Bakulich admitted to 14 charges of mishandling human remains and obtaining by deception in a surprise plea at the Auckland District Court on Friday morning.
Her offending, which included wrapping a body in plastic instead of the coffin the grieving family paid for and scamming families of all 11 victims of almost $18,000, stretched seven years between 2017 and 2024.
Fiona Bakulich pleaded guilty to 14 charges in the Auckland District Court on Friday. Photo / Michael Craig
‘Our family is vindicated. We weren’t just making this up’
“I’m glad she pleaded guilty. I didn’t think she was going to,” a man related to another victim said.
“Our family feels vindicated, but I think it’s more a vindication for all the other families that felt they couldn’t speak out.
“We weren’t just making this all up. It wasn’t that we had a vendetta against her. We just wanted to bring out the truth about how we were treated.”
‘There’s some kind of justice'
Another victim told the Herald after Bakulich’s guilty pleas: “We’re rapt with the outcome. There’s some kind of justice.
“We just thought she was going to walk away. We’re also rapt with the work that the police finally did. We’re happy. This was all we ever wanted as a family.”
Those affected families went through their own trials, telling the Herald they were accused of making the scandal up to cause trouble.
Bakulich specialised in taking care of funeral arrangements for Samoan families. Being Samoan herself, those families said they trusted her to treat them with the utmost cultural competency.
She was first found out in 2023 when Cyclone Gabrielle damaged the mausoleum in which some of the bodies were interred at Waikumete Cemetery. The bodies needed to be removed for repairs.
A family present for the disinterment process in June 2023 were confronted with their loved one wrapped in plastic, “treated like rubbish”, a grieving relative said.
The ways Bakulich tricked families into giving her unnecessary funds included falsely claiming the bodies needed Covid-19 tests and they needed to pay for these.
She also falsely claimed one body had infected genitals and needed injections. With another family, Bakulich said they had breached Covid requirements during their relative’s funeral and needed to pay a $7000 fine, which she pocketed.
The last family she scammed was in 2024.
Police have said others could be implicated in Bakulich’s offending. She has not given any comment to police or media to elaborate on or explain her actions.
Bakulich is due to appear in court for sentencing on April 11.
Bakulich’s brother, Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board chairman Nick Bakulich, once an undertaker himself, appeared in the public gallery on Friday morning.
Tipene Funerals' co-owner Francis Tipene told the Herald, when it first revealed the accusations against Bakulich in August last year, he was “deeply sorry for the pain and sorrow that [Bakulich] has caused those affected”.
“We unreservedly apologise for the distress their actions have caused the families involved,” Tipene said.
“Tipene Funerals prides itself on its professionalism and integrity, and our families need to have the utmost trust and confidence in our ability to ensure their loved ones are treated with dignity and respect.
“And in this instance, we have fallen short.”
Fiona Bakulich allegedly swindled her clients by improperly interring their dead relatives in the public mausoleum at Waikumete Cemetery. Photos / Michael Craig / Facebook
Regarding news police could not rule out further arrests, Tipene told the Herald last week he had “no idea” of anyone else being involved.
“This is the first I’ve heard of it, from[the Herald],“ Tipene said when approached for comment on the new development.
“I’ll wait for them [police] to approach me and then we’ll go from there.”
Tipene took to social media last Thursday saying he would “lay it all on the line ... so that trust can be reinstalled back with the whānau here at Tipene Funerals” when a television interview airs in March.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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