Former owner of embattled Atlantic Beach cemetery arrested

Amanda Rayan out on bond 2 months after husband arrested

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. – The former owner of First Coast Funeral Home and its sister company, Beaches Memorial Park, was arrested at her Arlington home on Thursday, charged with 47 felony counts, including accusations she forged signatures on death certificates and schemes to defraud.

Amanda Rayan, 34, posted bond and has been released from the Duval County Jail.

She sold the Atlantic Beach funeral home and cemetery last month following a four-month long I-TEAM investigation into more than 70 complaints from grieving loved ones who accused Rayan and her husband, Nader “John” Rayan, of disgracing the dead.

Amanda Rayan is accused of forging signatures to get death certificates so her cemetery and funeral businesses could keep getting paid to perform burials and cremations.

John Rayan, who was manager of the two companies, was arrested in July on 16 charges, mostly felonies resulting from taking money for services that were never provided, including never delivering headstones that were paid for.

According to the state attorney's office, John Rayan is charged with 11 counts of grand theft, one count of improper storage of a body, one count of fraud, one count of dealing with stolen property, one petty theft and one count of false verification of ownership to a recycler.

John Rayan is free on $100,000 bond.

Amanda Rayan's schemes to defraud charge could carry up to a 30-year sentence, if she's convicted.


About the Author:

Jennifer, who anchors The Morning Shows and is part of the I-TEAM, loves working in her hometown of Jacksonville.