A Beverly Hills plastic surgeon is suing a mortuary and a crematorium, alleging they reneged on a promise to give him half of his late wife's ashes after she died of stomach cancer earlier this year.
Dr. Alexander Sinclair's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit names as defendants Kubota Mortuary and the Los Angeles County Crematorium Cemetery.
The suit filed Friday seeks unspecified damages on allegations of breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Representatives for both defendants could not be immediately reached.
Sinclair and his late wife, Kyoko Yonezawa, lived together for many years before marrying in October 2016, according to the suit, which says a second wedding in October 2017 was a reaffirmation of their vows after Yonezawa became ill with stage IV stomach cancer.
Yonezawa's parents, Seiji and Yoriko Yonezawa, did not condone their daughter's marriage, but were "not shy about taking all they could from Dr. Sinclair and using Dr. Sinclair's good character and reputation and vast resources to their personal and business advantage," the suit alleges.
Sinclair, who has filed a separate lawsuit against his former in-laws, financially supported the couple, housed them in his home for prolonged periods of time, provided them with food and shelter, gave them money and permitted them to conduct business at his home, the suit states.
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Yonezawa died April 11, "leaving Dr. Sinclair in great despair," according to his court papers, which say he paid the mortuary and crematorium nearly $7,800 for a 50-50 split of her ashes to be shared between himself and her parents.
After Yonezawa's body was creamated, Sinclair received two small urns with his wife's ashes. However, based on the miniature size and weight of the urns, Sinclair realized he had not been given half of his wife's ashes as he had been promised, the suit alleges.
"In fact, defendants provided Dr. Sinclair with a total of approximately two ounces of the remains, which amounted to less than 10% of the total ashes," the suit alleges.
Sinclair has suffered emotional distress because of the alleged misconduct of the mortuary and crematorium, according to his court papers.
"Not only did Dr. Sinclair lose the love of his life much earlier than the two had ever expected, but he has also now been cheated and deprived by defendants of significant remains of Kyoko," the suit alleges.
In the lawsuit he filed against his late wife's parents in August, Sinclair alleges the couple saw their daughter's marriage "as nothing but an avenue to take advantage of a well-to-do Beverly Hills plastic surgeon and to strip Dr. Sinclair of his personal finances and to deprive Dr. Sinclair of enjoying the true love he had for Kyoko."
