When a millionaire CEO fakes his own death with a mad cow disease diagnosis and dupes his family, insurers, and even the U.S. government, you have to ask: how far can desperation—and storytelling—take a man before the truth catches up?
Story Snapshot
- Florida’s so-called “furniture king” staged his own death in Venezuela, claiming Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, to escape debt and collect millions in life insurance.
- The scheme involved fake medical records, a forged death certificate, and years of psychological manipulation of his wife.
- Federal investigators uncovered the plot, leading to a 14-year prison sentence and a devastated family left reeling from deceit.
- This case exposes the loopholes and vulnerabilities in insurance and international death verification processes.
How a Florida Success Story Turned into a Web of Lies
Jose Salvador Lantigua, once known as Jacksonville’s “furniture king,” carefully constructed an image of prosperity while his furniture empire teetered on the edge of collapse. His secret: millions in mounting debts and a lifestyle built upon borrowed money and bravado. In 2012, Lantigua secured $2 million in loans using fraudulent documents—a desperate gamble to keep his business afloat and preserve his standing in Florida’s business circles. As bankruptcy threatened, he chose fiction over failure, setting the stage for one of the most audacious frauds in recent memory.
In January 2013, Lantigua told his wife, Daphne Simpson, that he had been diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, commonly known as mad cow disease. He spun tales of a fatal diagnosis, claiming he’d contracted the illness during a supposed CIA operation involving eating monkey brains. The stories grew wilder: secret government missions, cartel threats, and blackmail. Each new lie drew Simpson deeper into his fabricated world—layer upon layer, until the truth became nearly impossible to discern. Lantigua convinced his wife her family’s safety depended on hiding the real story, manipulating her trust with chilling precision.
The Mechanics of the Scam: From Venezuela to the U.S. Embassy
By April 2013, Lantigua had left the country for Margarita Island, Venezuela—a destination chosen for its loose documentation processes and distance from prying eyes. There, he bought fake death and cremation certificates, setting up the illusion of his demise. Simpson, still believing her husband’s every word, traveled to Venezuela and filed the fraudulent paperwork at the U.S. Embassy, thinking she was honoring her dying husband’s wishes and protecting her children from cartel retribution. Meanwhile, Lantigua waited outside in a taxi, orchestrating every move from the shadows.
Back in the United States, Simpson filed seven life insurance claims totaling $6.6 million with various insurers. The plot seemed foolproof—until federal investigators noticed inconsistencies in the documentation and began to unravel the international web of deceit. The insurance companies, initially on the hook for millions, were forced into a high-stakes investigation that uncovered the scheme’s intricate details.
The Aftermath: Legal Consequences and Human Fallout
Federal prosecutors methodically dismantled Lantigua’s story, exposing the layers of lies and manipulation. In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Deo compared Lantigua’s thinking to that of a gambler: always betting the next hand would fix everything, never accepting that the deck was stacked against him. The final reckoning was severe—a 14-year federal prison sentence for the now-infamous CEO, who ultimately admitted that every element of his narrative, from the mad cow disease to the cartel threats, was “entirely false.”
The true cost, however, extended far beyond Lantigua’s prison cell. Simpson, left to pick up the pieces, realized her entire marriage was built on deception. “I don’t know what everything he told me. I don’t know what’s true anymore,” she confided, a reflection of profound psychological trauma. The insurance companies, though spared the payout, bore the burden of a complex, resource-draining investigation. Lantigua’s creditors and former business associates absorbed financial losses, and the case forced the insurance industry to rethink protocols for verifying overseas deaths and authenticating foreign documents.
Why This Case Will Haunt the Fraud Playbook
This saga stands out not just for its complexity, but for the calculated psychological manipulation at its core. Lantigua’s scheme required not just forged paperwork, but the total emotional control of those closest to him. Prosecutors highlighted how his wife became an unwitting accomplice—her loyalty weaponized by deceit. Experts note that few insurance frauds reach this level of sophistication, where the perpetrator must erase his former life and sever ties with everyone he once knew.
For the insurance industry and federal investigators, the case is a lasting warning about the creative lengths to which individuals may go when cornered by debt and desperation. The story continues to make waves in true crime circles, a testament to how ordinary-seeming people can conjure extraordinary deception—and how even the most elaborate lies eventually collapse under the weight of truth.
Sources:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
