Tiffany Mantzouridis had a hunch that something was off with her employer, Patrick Vereb, owner of Vereb Funeral Home and Eternity Pet Memorials.
“He would throw away crematory tags and keep handwritten notes of where which pets should go, but he never could name the crematory he was using for the smaller pets or the cemetery,” said Mantzouridis, who worked as an intern at the funeral home. “Whenever anyone questioned him, he found an excuse or made you feel dumb.
“When I pulled up official crematory records, there were no pets in the zero- to 30-pound range. It was a kick in the chest.”
Mantzouridis of Irwin kept digital receipts — more than 100 photos of unrefrigerated pets, tossed tags and hand-scribbled notes — and took her concerns to Harrison and Allegheny County police before the reports were escalated to the state in August.
Vereb, 70, of Hazelwood was charged Monday by the state Attorney General’s Office with taking money for pet cremations but instead disposing of the animals in landfills.
He also is accused of giving customers ashes that weren’t from their pets, according to authorities.
Vereb had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing May 9 but waived the charges to court Thursday. His formal arraignment is scheduled for 2 p.m. June 18 at the Allegheny County Courthouse.
An attempt to reach Louis W. Emmi, who is listed as Vereb’s attorney in court documents, was unsuccessful.
Authorities allege that Vereb stole about $660,000 from customers who paid for pet...
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