Telegram-herald. ([Grand Rapids, Mich.) 18??-1892, 1891-05-03
DEATH FOR DOODLE.
CRUESONE SCHEMES OF PLUSDER
hansn Life Jagged for Paitry Dollars
Csmas FILLED with steaes-cerpsss
borrowed for DrowniBg-no nonai-
eide suieide and fsrJary.


much If there 10 any class of business
that has TO contend against swindlers
as much as do insurance companies.
The chapter OF conspiracles TO defraud
life insurance companies, shows some
of the cleverest and some OF the most
fisndish crimes III the annals Of crlmi-
nal history"
Encouraged in his story by the evi-
surance agent continued his yarn. lie
filled his pipe. and cooking his feet up
against window sill, pulled al ms long
gray whiskers and remarked refec-
lively: "Swlndles, well, 1 should say
90! Swindles of every conceivable des-
crpuon. There are four general classes
IN which the most notable attempts
naturally fall. Substitution OF one
body for another, when the man al
legged to be dead is In reality alive, mys-
terious disappearance, homicide anu
suicide. OF course there are other
schemes Of minor Importance, sucn as
giving wrong answers to questions IN
blanks, when taking out a policy. This
is SD common that IL attracts bat little
notice. Another plan that causes more
difficulty I'd the company IS that by
which fraud IS accomplished by lie III
surance agents themselves.
Combining With Tricky Rascals.
"An agent, for instance. takes a risk
on a man who is clearly ineligible TO life
Insurance. This Is most commonly done
by combining with some rascaiiy al
legged physician. The agent gets hold
of people whose parents died of con-
sumption, or who have consumption
themselves; all classes of risks, IN fact.
He hustles them to the doctor, who pro-
nounces them sound. The policy is
made out, the agent gets his fee, the
doctor gets his, and they divide bonus
extracted from the insured candidate
for graveyard honors. An agent like
this can do q good business for = short
time, but he is sooner or later found
out, rs deaths on his risks come IN fas-
ter than the percentage calculated. Be-
fore that time he probably has jumped
the country. Another way that they
are found out is by other people begin
ning to drop their policies, not caring to
continue in a company that accepts
such risks. Tbs scheme WAS worked
extensively by an agent In this State a
| couple OF years ago.
Schemes OF Deeper, Darker Dvs.
'In regard to the schemes of deeper
dye-though less frequent, they are
| a great deal more interesting. Take
the plan OF substitution for instance.
An insured man Is reported dead. The
proofs of death are handed in certified
10y physician and every precaution Is
taken TO lull suspicion. Insurance
companies are hard to deceive. how
| ever, for they have had any amount of
experience. A plan for defrauding the
| company always has its ear marks.
They are small. but to the expert very
large. The cause of death IN this class
of cases is almost invariably some dis
ease which precludes q public funeral,
or the display of the body. Death is in
| almost all cases sudden. The coffin in
in reality contains sticks or stones,
while the supposed dead man has dis-
| appeared and if the scheme is success
| fnl he gets part of the swag. Usually
the plans are too carefully arranged.
The proofs of death are too convincing
or some other little ear mark arouses
| suspicion.
Mysterious Disappearance.
"The mysterious disappearance
scheme has its weIl-de;ined ear marks
! just as well. The favorite plan in this
scheme is to have the insured man ac-
cidentally drowned, and the body
never recovered, or not recovered un-
til past recognition. In the latter case
1t is a body obtained to pass as that OF
the dlsappearer. Some plans Of this
kind have been discovered after the
man had remained hidden several
years. The ear marks of this class of
cases are just as PLAN. Usually only
one person saw the drowning. and he
tells with minute accuracy every detail
of the accident. The one who saw 1t
is usually interested IN getting the in
surance. In fact they usually know
too much. The plan of homicide 10
get money on the life of the person
killed is rare, but generally easy to de-
| tect. 1t often happens that
adopted children are the victims
in such cases. Almost invariably the
amount of insurance is out of all pro-
| portions 10 the means of the ones pro-
curing IL and too it IL almost always OBJ
tanned few months. at most, before
the death. The death, of course, 10 dis
covered by themselves, and charged to
| an unknown villain as . murder; or IN
| some cases the victims are burned in
house and then there 10 the old story
| about An exploded lamp or something
of that kind. Though the most dam
nable, this clsss of swindles is the essl-
est TO detect.
Swfsdies hy eutctde.
"would you think itpos.ible that
man would attempt 10 swlndle life
insurance company by committing sui
! eide? IL has been done many times. A
| man becomes embar. .asscd financially
and can see no way 10 save his family
from poverty or disgrace. He has no
| hesitancy about swindiine the insurance
company that the money may leave his
/ family IN good circumstances and his
name clear from debt. Many are the
plans adopted in this scheme. Some
take poison, bat that e easily discovered
after death. Others are shot under
| circumstances that suggest . crime of
graver dimensions; others take poisons
| By injection. leaving no trace OF cause
| of death, and q cOrOners jury says
heart failure or 'apoplery.' One
| man, a Hungarian nObIemsn, deliber-
At4lv smoked himself g. death, using
thirty or forty Of the strongest clgsrs q
dsy.
Then there - the man vho at
tenp4s 20 defrand accident insurance
companies They wfil even allow
trans % cut Of ieg for the sake Of
the 5000 or viii chop Of finger or
soTae such thing a. that. In the chop
l ping of EfgeTs. . common plan. tyr The
wsv, 4 = Almost invariably the Jeff