Insurance Fraud Casebook: Paying a Premium for Crime

An Inspection Is Worth a Thousand Photos

ED MADGE

Unlike most antique car buffs, William Honaker didn't take his old Fords to auto shows. Few people even knew he owned them — but somehow someone kept stealing them, he said. Eleven times, in fact, in five months he had different antique cars stolen. William owned and operated an automobile parts business near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and had a nice rambling home that looked as if it had been moved from a hacienda in Arizona. The Honaker house covered about a half-acre in a large suburban area of Sunlight Ranches near Fort Lauderdale. He owned and drove a brand-new Cadillac but collected antique Fords. William was married and had two children, a boy and a girl, ages nine and 11, who attended a private school near his home. Overall, he thought he had done very well for a high-school dropout.

To their neighbors, the Honakers seemed like the typical suburban family. William left for work every morning around seven and dropped off his children at school on the way. Joan, William's wife, picked up the children and brought them home in the afternoon before going to her job as a nurse in a nearby hospital.

William had very few close friends, and most of his social network consisted of acquaintances he met through work. William also fancied himself as a country western artist, and he had cut an album featuring military blues tunes. He used ...