OAKLAND — California regulators accused a Rohnert Park funeral home operator with trying to bribe an embalmer into signing statements that five bodies were chemically preserved before they were sent to Mexico for burial.

The complaint filed Tuesday was the latest charge of unprofessional conduct levied against Anthony Villeggiante, owner of Abby Chapel of the Redwoods Mortuary. He also has been accused of storing decomposing bodies in a rented warehouse without proper refrigeration.

The state Cemetery and Funeral Bureau presented evidence of the bribery allegation at a court hearing, during which a judge revoked Villeggiante’s mortician’s license pending a May 14 hearing.

The regulators presented a statement from an unidentified embalmer who said that Villeggiante offered to pay him $100 each to sign certificates swearing that five family members who burned to death in a car crash had been embalmed — a condition required for international shipment. The embalmer refused, but Villeggiante shipped four of the bodies anyway, said Kevin Flanagan, a bureau spokesman.

Villeggiante’s lawyer, Michael Fiumara, said the bodies were so badly burned that embalming may have been impossible, but he denied his client tried to bribe anyone.

“Maybe there was not a need for embalming. Maybe it’s just someone out to get him,” Fiumara said.

Last week, inspectors found nine decomposing bodies in Villeggiante’s warehouse, which was refrigerated by a swamp cooler, after neighboring businesses complained of a foul odor.