The morgue manager at America's prestigious Harvard Medical School allegedly took dead body parts from his workplace without permission and then sold them, according to US prosecutors.

Cedric Lodge, 55, has been charged with trafficking in stolen human remains, the US attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania said.

His wife, 63-year-old Denise Lodge and five other alleged coconspirators were charged with involvement in a "nationwide network" of bought and sold human remains.

Prosecutors say that from 2018 to 2022 Cedric Lodge "stole organs and other parts of cadavers donated for medical research and education before their scheduled cremations."

He is accused of taking the remains from the Harvard site in Boston to his home in Goffstown, New Hampshire, where he and his wife sold the remains to two of the other accused - Katrina Maclean and Joshua Taylor.

At times, Lodge "allowed Maclean and Taylor to enter the morgue...and examine cadavers to choose what to purchase," the attorney's office said.

Prosecutors say Maclean, 44, and Taylor, 46, then resold the remains for profit. The indictment alleges that Maclean shipped human skin to Taylor to have him "tan the skin to create leather," the Boston Globe reported.

Another co-accused allegedly stole remains from a morgue in Arkansas where she worked, including the corpses of two stillborn babies who were due to be cremated and returned to their families.

And two others were charged with allegedly buying and selling remains from each other, exchanging more than US$100,000 (HK$780,000) in online payments.

Lodge managed the morgue for Harvard's anatomical gifts program. He was fired from his post on May 6, the school said.

Reuters

Harvard morgue manager charged with selling body parts