The Bahaman undertakers who took care of Aaliyah's funeral arrangements are fighting with the singer's record company Virgin over the $68,000 they paid upfront.

Butler's Funeral Home claim record label executives have reneged on a promise to cover the costs of preparing and shipping the bodies of the singer and eight friends back to America after the plane crash that killed them last August.

Loretta Turner, the director of the Nassau-based funeral home, says sacked Virgin executives Ken and Nancy Berry agreed to cover all of the costs incurred.

She says, "Because Aaliyah was, in their words, 'High profile,' they asked us to expedite things. So we were working over the weekend to get the bodies out as quickly as possible.

"It was all verbal, but the truth of the matter is, they knew they were obliged. They contacted all of the families themselves, sent us all of the necessary information and told us not to deal directly with the family members, that they would be responsible."

Since that time, Turner said she has endlessly tried to contact company executives - to no avail.

She adds, "We have a very good working relationship with the US Embassy, and they told us Virgin was a reputable company and we should go ahead and do it.