Faking your own death in the Philippines ⚰️

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Relevant because one of the fraudsters in the German Wirecard scandal Christopher Bauer ‘died’ in the Philippines from a heart attack in his 40’s.

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There should be a warning with this thread:
Do not try this at home.

:slight_smile:

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This is utterly ridiculous

adds to bookmarks

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I remember years ago coming across a secondhand book with a title like Reinventing Yourself in Asia, and I was intrigued. Imagine my disappointment when it turned out to be a how-to manual for identity theft. :unamused:

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Doesn’t surprise me in the least. The Philippines is Fraud Central for Asia, and their religious belief in the value of paper, certificates, and “IDs” (signed, notarized, copied in triplicate, sent to Manila and back) makes it very, very easy to create a “legitimate” paper trail of complete nonsense.

There are also quite a few foreigners who have dropped of the radar and are living second lives out in the boondocks; as long as they keep their heads down, the BOI doesn’t know they exist.

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Wait a second – isn’t Finley always talking about keeping his head down?!

sudden realization

Who even is he?!?
:thinking:

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That’s @finley right there in your picture of him. The confused looking one.

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And then there was this guy…

’ It was also revealed that Cotten had written his will just four days before leaving for India. It detailed C$12 million in real estate holdings, the Lexus, the Cessna, and the Gulliver; it left C$100,000 for the care of their Chihuahuas. The will made no mention of the external hard drives, called cold wallets, in which Cotten had stored most of Quadriga’s funds.’

’ The official cause of death was “complications from Crohn’s disease,” but the gastroenterologist who treated Cotten told the Globe and Mail that the death still haunted him. “We are not sure about the diagnosis,” he said. No autopsy was requested.

Confusion compounded confusion. The body was returned to the Oberoi and then sent out again to be embalmed; the embalmer refused to accept a body from a hotel, so Oberoi employees took it to a local medical college, where a staffer performed the procedure. The following afternoon Robertson returned with the body to Canada. She left behind a dozen teddy bears they had planned to deliver to the Jennifer Robertson and Gerald Cotten Home for Orphaned Children. (Robertson declined Vanity Fair ’s request for an interview.)’

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/12/16/gerald-cotten-quadrigacx-cryptocurrency-death-body-exhumed/

’ Millions vanished with a cryptocurrency entrepreneur’s sudden death. Now investors want his body exhumed.’

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All my paperwork is legit (for a given value of legit). You pay your money and get your bits of paper (signed, notarized, etc etc etc).

The problem with dropping off the radar in the Philippines is that you can never leave, unless you want to spend time in the BOI’s private prison in Manila while you raise the necessary bribes to get out.

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Wow Philippines

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And once your dead, anyone can kill you without a problem.

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They could still be convicted of murder. The authorities just wouldn’t be sure who they killed.

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Reminds me of Double Jeopardy with Ashley Judd

Murder of a dead person?

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You can slip into Indonesia or Malaysia can’t you? Down in those disputed territories?

And do what? Wait until you get an ID check?

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did the trail lead to Taiwan and a certain forumosan?

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It’s…a bit weird. The grieving families of these people must be totally shocked when the body gets repatriated and they learn that Bob lost 30 kilos and turned Asian in his final months.

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If you want a foreign face, you pay extra… :money_mouth_face:

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