Hi Honey; I'm home

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:24 pm

5 years after going missing while canoeing (and presumed drowned) this man walks into a police station alive and well and with "no recollection of where he had been for all that time"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7124519.stm

Further developments:
His wife in the meantime, has sold both their houses and dumped a shedload of cash into a bank in Panama and done a runner herself!

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1295349,00.html

Shocked

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 12:29 am

Talk about bad timing! Maybe she'll see the news stories?

Elite Baiter Joined: 02 Jul 2006 Posts: 1702

he was declared dead Sad

so for her i can only imagine how terrible it is to be told your husband is dead.

The way the news is told isnt always how the news is - i think in this case she believed her husband was dead and after a few years simply moved on giving up hope of seeing him again

You cant really blame her, in reality she didnt do anything wrong, bad timing certainly but not planned.

419Eater Admin Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Posts: 7469

Am I the only one thinking this is a life insurance con? Smile

Having said that, if it was then it was pretty dumb of the hubby to reveal himself in the UK, so please feel free to ignore my ramblings (again).

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:45 am

Shiver

I thought the exact same thing when I read the reports. I dont trust anybody though Smile

BTW, I love the avatar

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:28 am

Call me cynical but I must admit that the timing of him turning up with "total memory loss" of the last 5 years to coincide with his wife selling up and moving to Panama does seem a little suss.

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:50 am

I'm happy to inform you about my success in getting those funds transferred
under the cooperation of a new partner from Panama. Presently i'm in
Panama for investment projects with my own share of the total sum.

Meanwhile,i didn't forget your past efforts and attempts to assist me in
transferring those funds despite that it failed us some how. Now contact
my secretary....

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 2:24 pm

Why do men go missing?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7126738.stm

I'm sure that we also have a few more answers to that question. Smile

Baiting Guru Joined: 08 Jul 2004 Posts: 11857 Location: UK

shiver wrote:

Am I the only one thinking this is a life insurance con? Smile

That was my first though, sweetheart, you go missing for a few years, then when you are declared dead, I can claim the insurance on our 3 homes, which will pay off the morgages, along with your life insurance policy payout, I can then sell the homes, go to South America and you can join me later.

Seems far fetched, but ellaborate scams are set up well in advance, they might have save for a couple of years, he gets himself a fake passport using a deceased persons details, flies off to some remote place where it's cheap to live on the money he saved up, turns up 5 years later, which would be the best thing for him to do, because if he remained dead and went to join her in Panama, they could be found out at some point, be returned to the UK to face chagres and end up in prison, at least this way, he can just say he lost his memory and doesn't know where he has been, so there will be no comeback from the legal side to arrest him for fraud, would he have to pay back the life insurance money and mortgage insurance money?

They could claim it has already been spent, or more likely as they are in Panama, where many people have hidden private offshore accounts, nobody would ever know how much money they have still got.

Or, he could really have lost his memory for 5 years.

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 5:14 pm

SP:

You can bet if there was a load of life insurance the life insurance company is going to be investigating this. If they can show he did not really have the memory loss and this is a scam, it does not matter that he showed up in England.

Now, true, this method will have less of an impact than if he just showed up in Panama with the wife and the money.

I would suspect if we looked at the extradition laws between the UK and Panama they won't extradite for insurance fraud. Suing the couple in Panama probably would get you nothing as they would have the funds hidden in the Cayman's or Switzerland or something.

So I'd say there is at least a fair chance of this being an insurance scam. You can bet the mortgage company and the life insurance company are looking at it.

Would have been better if she had moved to Panama well before he came back. Now that he "knows" where she is he needs to go down and see her (and not come back).

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:27 pm

That reminds me: any news on Steve Fossett? His wife just made a request to have him declared dead. Maybe it's an insurance scam too.

I'll get me coat

Trophy Videos · Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 12:33 am

^^Could be. He spent an awful lot on those balloons of his. Smile

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 2:55 am

It seems the UK police are very suspicious about this too and have been investigating the Panama connection for some months. The guy has a pretty murky past with debts, etc. His wife sold up and went to live in Panama "because one of her pets died". Story here in Melbourne Age newspaper.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/probe-into-missing-canoeists-wife/2007/12/05/1196530714550.html

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 9:27 am

The plot thickens: Mirror News

I wouldn't mind so much, but some years back I claimed on the house insurance for some roof repairs after a storm, and it was like getting blood out of a stone when it came to them coughing up. Evil or Very Mad

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 12:12 pm

^^So, the lesson here is when committing insurance fraud don't pose for internet pictures that will prove you have committed fraud.

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 12:15 pm

Looks like a con alright. Wonder how much they may have to pay back.

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 5:15 pm

Any one know what the jail time would be for something like that in the UK?

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:48 pm

Deporting her from Panama could be the first problem which I am sure was chosen very carefully. Why he handed himself over to the cops instead of just quietly joining her is a mystery. Presumably he's now stranded in the UK with a lot of questions to answer while his beloved enjoys the $$$.

419Eater Admin Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Posts: 7469

Looks like wifey is starting to spill the beans:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1295687,00.html

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 9:37 am

They always come back to see their ol' mum and have a pint of warm beer down the local. Laughing

He almost got away with it, why on earth did he reveal himself?
Looks like he became surplus to requirements.

Never mind though. By the time he writes the book and sells the film rights, he'll have made what he got from this ten times over. Rolling Eyes

Baiting Guru Joined: 04 Dec 2005 Posts: 3551

I felt sorry for that bum's 90-year-old father. Evil or Very Mad

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:53 pm

shiver wrote:

Looks like wifey is starting to spill the beans:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1295687,00.html

At the end of the article I was half expecting to see the email address as [email protected] Laughing

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:59 pm

Quote:

I felt sorry for that bum's 90-year-old father.

What really puzzled me, is that the sons apparently (if it is true) didn�t know about the whole thing. Shocked

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 3:16 pm

He gained access back into the UK on a dead man walking passport Shocked

Think about that next time you have a 3 hour check-in!

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 4:12 pm

In a more interesting twist, Mr. Darwin is facing criminal charges Shocked

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article3236133.ece

EDIT: And so is his wife! Shocked

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/crime/article3237203.ece