Pair accused of faking death from bad oysters

[December 17, 2009]  SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- A couple were charged in federal court in Sioux Falls with faking the husband's death to collect on life insurance.

A woman, 39, and her 45-year-old husband pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. The wife was free on bond while the husband was being held without bond.

Authorities said the woman claimed that her husband had died after eating bad oysters during a family vacation in Malaysia in 2003. She eventually settled the insurance case with two insurance companies for $2 million.

FBI agents informed Sioux Falls-based Midland National Life about a year ago that husband walked into the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, and asked to renew his passport. The man was arrested in Guam last month.

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Information from: Argus Leader, http://www.argusleader.com/

[Associated Press]

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