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

Within a month of having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars, and without yet having made the first premium payment on the policy, the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer stated that the cigars were lost "in a series of small fires". The insurance company refused to meet the claim, citing the obvious reason - "that the lawyer had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion".

The lawyer sued ....... and won !!!!

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

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

After the lawyer cashed his cheque, the insurance company made a formal complaint to the police and has him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON !!!!

With only his insurance claim and his testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of "intentionally and deliberately setting fire to his insured property" and was subsequently sentenced to a 24 months jail sentence as well as a $24,000 fine.

This is a true story and was the First Prize Winner in the recent

Criminal Lawyer's Award Contest.

ONLY IN AMERICA.