Said to be true

[McMouse]

BEST LAWYER STORY OF THE YEAR, DECADE AND PROBABLY THE CENTURY.



A Charlotte, NC lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive
cigars, and then insured them against fire, among other things.



Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars
and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the
policy, the lawyer filed claim against the insurance company. In his
claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost in a series of small
fires. The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason
that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.



The lawyer sued... and WON! (Stay with me.)



In delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company
that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the
lawyer "held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that
the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them
against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable
fire" and was obligated to pay the claim.



Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process,
the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss
of the rare cigars lost in the "fires".



NOW FOR THE BEST PART...



After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him
arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!! With his own insurance claim and
testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was
convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was
sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.



This is a true story and was the First Place winner in the

[barry1010]

This is a very old story. I first heard it around 10 years ago. If you read the follow on it says:
The events described above did not occur in Charlotte, N.C., or anywhere else. This is the latest (and most verbose) retelling of an old urban legend that has roots in humor.

In some variations, the cigar-buyer is just an average scammer, in others, he's an accountant. In every version, however, his clever scheme always backfires and he ends up losing more than he wins.

http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/cigars .html

[squarebear]

Yes, this is an urban myth. It never happened.