Thursday, January 10, 2008

"He's Dead, You Idiots!"*

Believe it or not, it's not all that uncommon for people to collect the benefits checks - Social Security, pension, etc. - of dead folks and keep the money for themselves. We occasionally have a client who perpetrates that kind of low-grade fraud. That being said, they're rarely this obvious about it:

Two men face trial after wheeling their dead friend down a Manhattan street in an alleged attempt to cash his Social Security cheque.

The sight of two men pushing a partially-dressed, pale, stiff body on an office chair raised the suspicions of a passing policeman.
There's some eagle-eyed police work! One onlooker said that Bernie "looked very dead." Presumably this dead.

* Elaine Benes, film critic, on Weekend at Bernie's