The Washington times., 1937-11-13

DECKS, minerva DtehS, NCOl
Beeks, Panton BeekS, ct al, as
of delayed natural justice.
Edward Beeks was (and Isl
benevolent piouS gentleman WHIT
developed not only a hatred tol
insurance companies but also
scheme that would make them pay
for that hatred to the great profit
of Edward and his wife and chill
dren as mentioned in the STATE
ment of the case of the people.
He was a middle-aged man with
a flowing beard and kind eyes anc
an unctuous voice and total lack
of ethics.
Minerva, his wife, never had ar
ethic in her life. She, too, was
benevolent and smart enough tc
explain to herself, her children
and you, if you asked for it, that
taking money dishonesty from an
insurance company or any other
corporation was not a crime.
TYPICAL AMERICANS
The Beeks children, George,
Henry, Natalie and Panton, were
chips off the two old blocks. They
were all grown up and ranging in
age from 19 to 26. And they were
all good-looking, typical Amer
leans.
Away back in 1924, Edward
worked out a scheme for making
accident insurance people pay
through the nose.
He developed the technique of
fake automobile accidents to its
highest point, using Minerva and
the children and group of
shyster lawyers in the process.
The Beeks worked all over the
country and they nearly drove
the insurance company crazy be-
cause the damage assessed against
the companies in the various
courts threatened at one time to
cut the company'S profits from
SO to 96 per cent.
On the face of it, a BeekS "ac-
cident" looked like any other, eX-
cept that the results were more
horrible. An automobile would
hit pedestrian.
Taken to the hospital, the VIC
tim would reveal broken limb,
severe scratches and contuSionS,
possibly an internal injury or two.
The insurance company covering
the automobilist would send its
doctors and then its adjustment
agents.
The latter were confronted with
an offer to settle for just a few
dollars less than they would have
had to pay if they brought tn e
case into the courts.
In the beginning the insurance
companies preferred to fight the
cases. But in Beeks cases they
encountered a complainant as well
equipped financially and legally
as they were to wait and stall.
The consequences were that Ed
ward was responsible for a grow
ing willingness of insurance COM
panies to settle practically on the
spot.
FAKE VICTIMS
OF course, all the victims in the
BeekS' accidents were takers. They
were marvellous actors and, be-
sides, were fortunate enough to
have "some injury or physical
quirk that looked pretty bad to a
doctor examining them after an
accident"
Natalie, for instance, had two
hips that she could dislocate at
will. George could break his finger
merely twisting it. Henry had in
testinal trouble which showed up
as an internal injury under the
X-ray.
Minerva was a walking museum
of malformationS.
When they picked up any of
these from under the wheel of an
automobile, the case was prac-
tically "in the bag"
Now, no one suspected that any
Of the Beeks accidents were faxed.
They didn't even know there was
q BeekS' family because in every
accident the victims" used diff
ferent names.
But over a period of five years,
accidents" of this nature became
so frequent from Maine to Cali
fornia, that the insurance COM
panies we're forced to investigate.
1t took more than a year for
the insurance investigators to
catch up with Edward. But one
thing led to another. The SINH
larity of BeekS accidents was re-
vealed as striking.
They found a common BeekS
in three accidents which hap
pened successfully in New York,
Illinois and Colorado.
The insurance companies then
blew the whistle enlisting the aid
Of the Federal Government on
some technicality like transporta-
ton and they finally brought Ed.
ward into court in Missouri.
FRAUD CHARGE
Arrested, he found himself
charged with fraud, obtaining
money under false pretenses, cor.
rurting the morals of minors
mayhem and the Lord knows
what all.
His whole family waS dia1ad