A man convicted of faking his own death to scam insurance companies out of hundreds of thousands of pounds has been ordered to pay £40,000 from two matured pensions by a British court.
John Darwin, 63, who earned the nickname “Canoe man” after he was reported missing in a canoe in March 2002, was ordered to pay the funds by Teeside Crown Court under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Darwin was sent to prison for his scam in 2008, and a judge had previously ordered him to repay £679,073, but as Darwin is currently unemployed and claiming benefits he has only so far repaid £122, according to Sky News.
Following the hearing, prosecutor Jolyon Perks said that the judgement sends a “strong signal” to those who hope to benefit from fraud, adding:
“The Proceeds of Crime Act is intended to be draconian.”
Darwin had claimed that he had lost all memory of the events surrounding his disappearance and his then-wife Anne described her amazement at his reappearance in 2007. However, a photograph showed the couple on holiday together in Panama after his supposed death.
