Crooks Aren't Any Smarter in Canada

[silverscreenselect]

From an insurance claims bulletin I get every week, how insurance fraud is carried out north of the border (I'm sure all our Canadian BBs are glad to know they're on the ball up there):

One Winnipeg resident found out the hard way that honesty — albeit criminal in intent — doesn’t always pay. The man had opened an auto theft claim with Manitoba Public Insurance. He had filed a similar theft claim three years earlier, so an investigator interviewed him for further details. When asked how to explain the similarities of both thefts, the man blurted out that the first claim was, in fact, bogus. The vehicle’s engine was blown and he had arranged for it to be stolen, and then burned. Although he insisted that this new claim was legit, the investigator was unconvinced. The man later pled guilty to fraud and received a $1,000 fine.

Another Winnipeg man, a dedicated paper carrier, joined the ranks of those who tried — unsuccessfully — to defraud the public insurer last year. Perhaps he was a little too dedicated. As the result of a car collision, the man claimed his injuries prevented him from carrying out his job as a newspaper distributor. Manitoba began paying the man income replacement. However, the man’s dedication to his profession proved to be quite strong, and he started working again while still collecting money from Manitoba .

One of the daily stops on the man’s route was Manitoba ’s downtown head office. Unbeknownst to him, surveillance cameras captured him going about his business. He pled guilty to the charge of fraud and was issued a fine and ordered restitution to the insurer.

[etaoin22]

FWIW public auto insurance is the one and final lasting accomplishment of what was a place with a lot of red red, from the Winnipeg General Strike to Joe Zukon to Canadian Dimension magazine to Ed Schreyer (sorta), and a lot of people who were working anonymously trying to build community while Ché was off gallivanting on his motorcycle.