Man Arrested For Faking Death

A Virginia man was arrested on January 12^th, which is only interesting because federal prosecutors say he reported himself dead to his life insurance company over a year ago.

According to the Washington Post and an indictment announced Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern Virginia, Jamie Dwayne Long, 38, faces three counts of mail fraud for allegedly ordering and receiving a notary embossing stamp and scheming to receive paperwork in an attempt to collect on his life insurance policy, worth about $774,000. One problem with his plan is that he was (obviously) still alive.

Long was later released on bond.

Prosecutors stated that Long took out the policy back in 2001, but that he began calling about its value in the summer of 2010. The policy listed his wife as a beneficiary, but she is not named in the charges.

Prosecutors say that in August 2010, someone who identified himself as a relative of Long’s reported him dead to the insurance company and asked that benefits be sent to Long’s supposed widow, according to the indictment. The caller gave Long’s telephone number as the contact and in announcing the charges, the U.S. Attorney’s office asserts the caller was Long.

To pay on the claim however, prosecutors note that the insurance company needed certain notarized statements and a certified death certificate.

According to the indictment, Long opened a post office box where the claims paperwork was sent, and then placed an online order through a rubber stamp maker for an embosser. Another problem with the plan: the stamp was in the name of a local notary public who did not know her name was being used.

Neil H. MacBride, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney, stated that further information, including whether the claim was paid out, was not immediately available because it was not currently part of public record.