It gets even more twisted, in my opinion.

"Anne Darwin, 55, spoke out in an interview carried in the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror tabloids. Her husband is being held by police on suspicion of fraud.

"The pair had been trying to start afresh in Panama City this year. Mrs Darwin has left Panama in the last few days and the Daily Mail's story was datelined Miami. She too is likely to be arrested if she returns to Britain.

"Recounting the exceptional tale, she said the couple had about 12 houses as rental investments in County Durham, north-east England, and began to run up debts of tens of thousands of pounds."
Wife of 'dead' Briton comes clean

"British media said she sold two properties and left for central America with 450,000 pounds ($1.04 million) shortly before her husband's shock reappearance this month, when he walked into a London police station and said: 'I believe I am a missing person.'"
Police given more time to quiz 'dead' canoeist

So, in 2002 they were running up lots of debt with their 12 properties, so he decided to do the insurance scam, and then this year the wife decides to join him in Panama so she sells two properties and leaves the country with 450,000 pounds.

My question is, if they had 12 properties and couldn't afford the debts why didn't they sell off a couple of properties back in 2002 and put their finances back in the black?

I'm even more interested in the human aspect of this story. The lies, deceptions, the man's loss of contact with his sons, the sons severing ties with the parents because of their sense of betrayal. But, above all else, I'm fascinated with the couple's belief that they could get away with this and live a normal (but rich) life.

Helen