In 2012, Florida businessman Jose Lantigua made odd decisions when his company Circle K Furniture slipped into debt. At that time, he bought new furniture for his home with the company money. In addition, Lantigua built a panic room with steel doors inside his North Carolina hideaway.

After that, he started planning his fake death. He made plan with his wife, Daphne Simpson, to scam about $8 million from insurance companies. In 2013, Mourners gathered at a church in Florida to celebrate the life of Lantigua, who died while on vacation in Venezuela. The cause of his death was illness.

Earlier, it was found that Lantigua was alive and living in North Carolina. After that, he was arrested by federal agents on Saturday in North Carolina. Now, 62-year-old Lantigua and his wife have been jailed on seven insurance fraud charges. Every count carries a possible 30-year sentence.

Lantigua's family was battling insurance companies from a long time as the companies had refused to pay off on his life policies because they were not sure whether Lantigua had died or not. Lantigua's arrest from North Carolina has finally end the long-running court battle.

A Jacksonville prosecutor working the case, Joe Licandro, said, "I've never seen anything quite like this case. There was always a suspicion, but they were able to evade authorities as long as he did, and she didn't have any missteps either - until recently".

Lantigua had bought Circle K Furniture in 2008. That time, Lantigua claimed that he has served more than 20 years as a senior officer in the United States Army, where he said he earned Silver Star. The Silver Star is the country's third-highest military honor for bravery. Lantigua had graduated from Florida International University in 1989 with a degree in computer science and also claimed degree in management.