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Man once reported dead is arrested ; Lantigua, thought dead in Venezuela, detained in N.C., faces fraud charges
http://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/2015/04/15/man-once-reported-dead-is-arrested-lantigua-thought-dead-in-venezuela-detain-a-613205.html[4/16/2015 9:23:03 AM]
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April 15, 2015
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Man once reported dead is arrested ;Lantigua, thought dead inVenezuela, detained in N.C., facesfraud charges
By Steve PattersonProquest LLC
A Jacksonville businessman who was reported dead in Venezuela two years agowas arrested Saturday in North Carolina on federal charges that moved a twistingparlor game of high-stakes fraud claims from the courthouse to the jailhouse.
Jose Lantigua, 62, former owner of Circle K Furniture, was jailed without bond inBuncombe County, N.C., which includes Asheville in the western part of thestate, according to an inmate database the jail there maintains.
Lantigua was arrested about 9 a.m. by officials who stopped a car he wastraveling in with his wife, Daphne Simpson of Ponte Vedra Beach, said JoshuaWoolsey, an attorney who has represented the family in a tangle of civil suits instate and federal court since Lantigua's death was reported in 2013. Simpsonwas released by federal agents, but was arrested Saturday evening in St. JohnsCounty.
Jail records in North Carolina said only that the Cuban native was being held forfederal officials, and didn't specify charges.
But a Jacksonville prosecutor said Lantigua faces insurance fraud charges inFlorida involving policies worth $9 million from seven companies.
"I've never had a case like this," said Assistant State Attorney Joe Licandro,whose office has been looking into Lantigua's deals along with state insuranceinvestigators.
Some companies that insured Lantigua had already paid on claims after the U.S.embassy in Caracas issued a certificate used to record an American's deathoverseas. Paperwork from Venezuela said he had been sick and died during avisit and had been cremated there.
But other insurers argued they were being swindled, and had asked a judge torule that Lantigua was in fact alive.
The evidence for some arguments was far from clear, with attorneys for oneinsurer presenting paperwork from a Venezuelan court that was later shown tobe forged.
A Jacksonville judge ruled that while the paperwork brought to his court wasfake, it wasn't clear who had produced it, so he couldn't tell whether anyoneinvolved in his case had knowingly lied.
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Man once reported dead is arrested ; Lantigua, thought dead in Venezuela, detained in N.C., faces fraud charges
http://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/2015/04/15/man-once-reported-dead-is-arrested-lantigua-thought-dead-in-venezuela-detain-a-613205.html[4/16/2015 9:23:03 AM]
Licandro said an arrest warrant for Lantigua had been issued more than a yearago, but prosecutors had let that one drop after problems emerged about someof the information underlying the case. He said a new warrant charging insurancefraud and schemes to defraud was issued within the past week.
Licandro said no warrant had been issued earlier for Simpson becauseprosecutors weren't sure she knew he was alive. But after she was found sharinga ride with him, those doubts seemed settled.
To move the civil cases forward, attorneys in the last few weeks sought helpfrom Venezuela's foreign affairs ministry in getting a deposition from aVenezuelan man and to review some documents in the South American countrywhose strained relationship with the U.S. colored the background to the case.
In November, Woolsey told a federal judge that some material affecting the civilcases came from a tipster who claimed to be a government employee withinformation that "is sensitive in nature and relates to matters of nationalsecurity."
Woolsey said Saturday that he and the firm he works for, Rogers Towers, werewithdrawing as counsel for Lantigua's family.
"I and the law firm were shocked to learn this morning that we have beendefrauded by acting and relying on the information ... that indicated he wasdead," Woolsey said, noting the firm had committed long ago to give up the civilcases if there was solid information that Lantigua was alive.
Lantigua had also used the policies as collateral on loans he had taken out, andhis disappearance left lenders waiting for someone to make good oncommitments to cover the debt.
It will take more time to sort out all the details of who was scammed, said oneattorney involved in the court fight.
"We're just now delving into one layer of the onion as to Jose Lantigua's schemeof deceit," said Charles Jimerson, an attorney representing American EnterpriseBank, one of the lenders left holding the bag after Lantigua vanished.StevePatterson: (904) 359- 4263
Copyright:(c) 2015 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved.Wordcount:674
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