title: Deadly Premiums
author: Hall, Doug
description: Adam Mason had been dealt the most devastating blow a man could receive in the prime of life. He was told that his M.R.I. revealed a ghostly white orb on his left frontal lobe. Immediate surgery was ordered with no guarantees. Death could come within six months or less. Compounding the bad news was the Masons' bank balance. It was down to zero. Their meager savings had disappeared. There was no prospect of fresh funds with the exception of a small monthly disability pension that went for the mortgage. Mason was unable to work and his wife was housebound looking after him following surgery. A ray of hope came when their family doctor put Mason in touch with an insurance agent who sold viatical settlements (for terminally ill patients). Mason had one tangible asset, with the exception of their house which had very little equity. It was a $500,000 life insurance policy with his wife as beneficiary. All he had to do was change the beneficiary from her to the insurance company that sold him the viatical settlement. They would immediately receive a payout of $300,000 and the company would realize $500,000 when he died. The life-expectancy analyst gave him two months or less. Fortunately, for Mason, the surgery was termed a success. Two and-a-half-months later he was given a clean bill of health. The agent, who sold the policy, guaranteed his employer that it would be a quick turnaround and found himself in serious trouble. The money to finance the policy was laundered money and the lenders wanted their $500,000 within two months or less. They didn't care how they got it. There are no known cases of murder to collect a life settlement-linked insurance payout. Mason could be the first. A hit man was given a contract. Two lead detectives, in a money laundering investigation, set up a "sting."