



Sumter County, South Carolina





One evening in May of 2008, Gerald B. Hardin and two of his friends came up with a scheme that would potentially make all three of them rich. Their idea involved defrauding multiple insurance companies with false claims, which by itself isn't terribly original and doesn't have a very high probability of success.





As anyone who has dealt with homeowners insurance is well aware, these guys don't mess around. You can't just submit a claim that says "HOLY CRAP CTHULU JUST RAN THROUGH MY HOUSE" and expect to get a payout. There needs to be physical evidence that an accident/catastrophe truly did happen (and caused you damages) that's covered by your policy.









In what had to be the most intense game of rock/paper/scissors (or drawing straws) that has ever taken place, someone ended up losing, bought the personal insurance policy, and agreed to But someone in this trio of masterminds (reports do not say which one) happened to have a very lucrative homeowners insurance policy. They realized that if one of them also took out multiple personal insurance policies that left him well covered in the case of accidental death or dismemberment , the payout would be enormous if one of three were to have an in home "accident."In what had to be the most intense game of rock/paper/scissors (or drawing straws) that has ever taken place, someone ended up losing, bought the personal insurance policy, and agreed to have their hand cut off with a pole saw





Like this, only without the ability to request a "best out of three" tournament





For those unfamiliar with what a pole saw is, below is a video of some dude in a blue bandana using one to cut tree branches (while completely bizarre/unsettling music plays in the background).









