Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-07-19
SPURIOUS CORPSES.
- There Gang OF Brokers asd Doctors
swindIirR Insurance ComPaniss'
Nav York SuU =

Is There n Gang OF Brokers asd Doctors
swindIirR Insurance ComPanies'
New York Sun
Mr.. Z. b. Harper, pres dent OF the
Mutual Rcserye.Fund Life A s.ociation,
advertised yesterday rewNl Of $500
for Information securing the arrest and
conviction Of any person has swim
died the Association by fraudulent
death-claims. Mr.. lIarper All ycster-
day;
There is an organized ,ang Of IN
surance brokers in this cit, Who make
it their business TO swindlr Insurance
companies on fraudulent ella "a. They
bring in some good busines, mi under
cover Of it work in the bi.. I know
who they are, and can ia my hands
on them. Detectives az tier them,
and propose to get some oi them into
prison if possible. The inst auce COM
panies have lost enOrmou. sums by
these swindlers. The u Insurance
business pays out 100000, Oo' year in
losses, and it is natural that swim
dlers should try to get ho'i 4 some
Of this money. They have two
ways Of doing it-by substitution and
by pretended death. In ut ,tution
they bring a perfectly heal BY man to
lie examined, and he gives a. his own
name the name Of some person who u
very sick or course he p sses the
medical examination readily Shortly
afterward the man for whor &c was
substituted dies, and then aim is
made for the insurance. Y "a see how
hard it is for US to discover 10. decep-
ton, but we are now very fe'ul to be
sure Of the identity Of the man before
we give him policy.
"In pretended death it is thor as
serted that the body cannot be found
or body is produced whcl Is asserted
to be that Of the policy-hold In the
first case drowning is a hvorte pre-
tence. The man goes fishing in tho
evening, falls overheard, Al ! his body
can never be found. In recent
case man fell overheard n q Cats
kill creek. Cannon we're trsd and
the creek dragged, but no D dy was
discovered. A claim wa made for
large insurance, and detectives inyes-
tigated the case They fouu. 'he sup
posed dead man in Cleyelan, lie hal
dropped oyorboardpurposolF ,nd swan
quietly to point some lis.'n'e away,
where confcderates had left oTg clothes
for him. The people wit whom he
was fishing were quite innl,eu' Of any
guilt, and really supposed h TO be
drowned.
Then, again, q strange ia man 81
dressed in the clothes Of h. goliey
holder, and the family r. % 70 the
body by the clothes. RcceD y a body
at the morgue was identt I'D IN this
way and a claim made up IS Tor 4
heavy insurance. We founl hat th,
family did not attend the ~ raj anC
that friends were excluded We hay,
since learned that the man is Ham
burg. 1t is easy to buy d Cd body
for such purposes.
| Il remember another case q maj
who was a member Of sew 70 benefit
societies, and whose total insu snce az
gregated 100000. He apps re ily dieC
and was buried, and the fa'ii put OF
mourning. The benefit as 'iationi
FASTENED to pay the money, I'd though
they bad done a good u ny. Fou
years later the entire family dead hus
band included, were found ing in AZ
fuence in Germany OH the Jney thu
fraudulently obtained. The had sub
stituted body.
THE swindling brokers generally
pick ont small insurance. e mpanies
which cannot afford 10 make eNten4iy'
investigations on every Ai ricion o
frsnd. The fraudulent ms RANGES ar
generally for amounts unde $1,000, q
they thus attract little ut lion, an
the companies DO 20; make tu h fus
over them. To secure the 'ey on
pretended death It is sene y neces
sary TO have the pfys'cia or som
one Of the family in the acme.
recall a case Of substitut .. wher
the widow Of the dead E.aL ~ 20 r,
ceiye certain sum for PISS him O
as the man TO whom the po had bee
given. She learned that ~ SAs sn.
tied to all the money and le such
fuss that the fraud wa disco 'rsd. I
avoid fraud We now requife tysician
to certify that they are pos e As
the identity Of the dead ~. IN
1Gercantile agencies ofen ,wltigaI
cases Of alleged death 70 "a. an
have reported in several lnSianc,
that the men were al e. II
company gets badly caush Il Is yer
apt TO hush il up for fear injnrin
business. lnsuraEce-men m, And lAl
over these matters, and wch alrssd
prepared . blacklist " auafaieI
agents and physicians, and BY 4 v
have saved a great deal q n ,ey. "
are working now 20 exp0se lem. 81
we hope to drive them olt Tie bu,
ness.