OneWingedBird
Beloved of Ra
- Joined
- Aug 3, 2003
- Messages
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theres been a lot of awful puns in the headlines the last few weeks, mostly along the lines of "Canoe believe it!" etc...
Canoe fraud couple sent to jail
Back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin and his wife Anne have each been jailed for more than six years for fraudulently claiming £250,000.
John Darwin, 57, was jailed for six years and three months after earlier admitting deception by faking his own death in a canoe accident.
Anne Darwin, 56, was given six and a half years for the fraud.
The judge said the couple's two sons, who were unaware their father was still alive, were the "real victims".
The couple conned sons Mark and Anthony, friends, police and insurance companies into believing Mr Darwin drowned in the North Sea off Teesside in 2002.
He reappeared at a London police station in December last year claiming he had lost his memory.
They were undone by a photograph of the grinning couple taken in Panama four years after he disappeared.
Mr Justice Wilkie, at Teesside Crown Court, said their sons, who gave evidence for the prosecution against their mother, had been left "crushed" by the deception.
He said: "Although the sums involved are not as high as some reported cases, the duration of the offending, its multi-faceted nature and, in particular, the grief inflicted over the years to those who, in truth, were the real victims, your own sons, whose lives you crushed, make this a case which merits a particularly severe sentence."
A compensation hearing to determine how the couple can pay back the £250,000 they defrauded will take place at a later date.
Anne Darwin had put forward the defence of "marital coercion" against 15 charges of money laundering and fraud, meaning her husband made her act against her will. However, the jury found her guilty...
The BBC said:..Anne Darwin had put forward the defence of "marital coercion" against 15 charges of money laundering and fraud, meaning her husband made her act against her will.
stuneville said:The BBC said:..Anne Darwin had put forward the defence of "marital coercion" against 15 charges of money laundering and fraud, meaning her husband made her act against her will.
A man, a peon, a canoe: Panama!
You've got to admire the "He made me do it, despite all evidence to the contrary" defence, though. And the moral of this one is: if you're a bit skint, flog some of your dozen houses, and don't appear to die then miraculously rise from the dead claiming to be amnesiac a day or two after your wife emigrates to Central America to start a new life. Fockwit.
Separate bills for fraud couple
Back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin and his wife Anne are to face separate bills from lawyers seeking to recover assets following their £250,000 fraud.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has confirmed it wants £455,000 from the sale of their two Teesside homes to be included in any settlement.
The pair were each jailed for more than six years after John Darwin faked his own death in 2002.
Police will assess the couple's assets before a hearing to be held later.
John Darwin, 57, was jailed for six years and three months after earlier admitting deception by faking his own death in a canoe accident.
Anne Darwin, 56, was given six and a half years for the fraud on Wednesday.
The pair had hoped to start a new life in Panama after getting into debt.
Police believe when they were arrested last December their assets were worth at least £500,000 - the equivalent of one million US dollars in Panama.
A judge will determine how much each will have to pay back at a proceeds-of-crime hearing to be held later this year.
wembley8 said:My favourite part is that he is now doomed to be known as "canoe man" or "canoeist" for the rest of his life. A fitting punishment...
But that's what intruiges me. Why did he do it? Why turn up again?
I've heard mention of them having a row, but both ending up doing time seems to be taking the cut nose spite face thing a little far...
Fraudian slip?goth13girl666 said:...his wife said to her neighbour " if this does not work out WE lose everything", now why would she say we if there was only her and she knew nothing about or of her husbands disappearence...
..she also said "i know i might have to give back some of the insurance money it wont be easy but i will cope" she or should i say they were more concerned about getting the money for settling debts and starting afresh but this is classed as freud.
Canoe fraudsters to pay £600,000
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/engl ... 354641.stm
Anne and John Darwin had embarked on a new life in Panama
The wife of back-from-the-dead canoeist John Darwin has offered to return more than half a million pounds of money the couple obtained fraudulently.
Lawyers for Anne Darwin said she would pay back £591,838 made from the scam she staged with her husband John, a Proceeds of Crime hearing was told.
The pair, from Seaton Carew, Teesside, were jailed after he faked his death to claim life insurance and pension cash.
John Darwin agreed to pay a nominal sum of £1, as he has no financial assets.
The confiscation hearing started at Leeds Crown Court earlier.
From Catherine Marston at Leeds Crown Court
Anne Darwin listened intently as the prosecution explained neither she nor her husband will contest the amount of money which must be repaid.
Silent for much of the hearing, she only spoke to confirm her name.
The court proceedings had been delayed to allow a two minutes silence to be observed for Remembrance Day but once the case began it soon became clear Anne Darwin would be repaying over £591,000.
She is liable because all the assets are in her name. Her husband John will pay a nominal sum of just one pound.
The couple convinced the police, a coroner, financial institutions and even their two sons that John Darwin had drowned while canoeing in the North Sea in 2002.
However, he had been hidden away in a flat next door to his wife's home, and they later embarked on a new life in Panama.
In November 2007 he returned to the UK, telling police he was a missing person with amnesia.
Darwin, 58, was jailed in July 2008 for six years for deception, while 57-year-old Anne Darwin was jailed for six-and-a-half-years for fraud and money-laundering.
The hearing at Leeds Crown Court was told that the Darwins realisable assets totalled £591,838.25.
Prosecutor Jolyon Perks said the victims were insurance companies Aviva, formerly known as Norwich Union, and AIG, with claims also made on John Darwin's pension and a Department of Work and Pensions payout.
This totalled £363,700.01 and the Crown also sought an order under the Proceeds of Crime Act for a further £228,138.24.
Mr Perks asked for a year for the money to be repaid.
If either fails to repay they could face a three-year jail sentence.
Mrs Darwin appeared in court, but her husband was not present.
The 63-year-old had travelled to the Ukraine and was photographed last month by the Sun newspaper on a date with a local woman who was wearing a mini-skirt.
Fake death conman John Darwin 'has repaid just £121'
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tees-26937700
John Darwin leaving Teesside Crown Court
Darwin made a brief appearance at Teesside Crown Court
Convicted canoe death fraudster John Darwin has repaid just £121 of a £679,000 proceeds of crime order, a court has heard.
Darwin, 63, of Seaton Carew, Teesside, faked his own death in 2002 so his then-wife Anne could claim £500,000.
He served three years of a six-year jail term for insurance fraud.
Teesside Crown Court heard he may now have to use a recently matured pension to repay the cash he cheated out of insurance companies.
The father of two appeared in court after police began fresh proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
A judge had previously ordered he should repay £679,073, but the court was told divorced Darwin, who is claiming benefits, has only been able to hand back £121.
The Crown has now applied for him to repay more, as a pension has matured. A hearing to decide the matter will be held in May.
Panama photograph
Darwin did not speak during the brief hearing before Judge Howard Crowson.
Anne Darwin, now split from her husband, has repaid more than £500,000 under a separate Proceeds of Crime order.
John Darwin was reported missing in a canoe in the North Sea in March 2002.
His wife collected more than £500,000 in life insurance payouts, while he hid in their home, leaving their two sons believing he was dead.
In December 2007, he walked into a London police station, claiming he had amnesia, and was reunited with his sons who were stunned to hear he was alive.
His wife, who had fled with him to Panama, pretended to be shocked until a photograph emerged of them posing together after his supposed death.
John and Anne Darwin photographed for the Move to Panama website
John and Anne Darwin were infamously photographed in Panama in 2006
She was later jailed for six-and-a-half-years for fraud and money-laundering.
Earlier this year police said John Darwin was being investigated again under the Proceeds of Crime Act regarding possible "undeclared assets".
After the pair were jailed, assets including a fourth-floor apartment in Panama City and an overgrown plot of land near the artificial Lake Gatun were seized and sold.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was granted a confiscation order to retrieve the money Mrs Darwin received from her insurance companies and pension funds.
All the money held in accounts in the UK and Panama, which totalled about £9,000, was also seized.