Fraud scheme nets pain in the end

I always enjoy reading those quirky little items in the news that make you laugh or cry or just simply scratch your head in amazement. These little oddities in the news tell us much about ourselves. And boy are we one screwed-up mess!

Ronald Evano and his wife, Mary, have earned a special place in the Stupidity Hall of Fame. The Boston-area couple thought they had the perfect scheme to get something for nothing. And it worked - sort of - until they got a bit too greedy.

Here's their plan. They would visit a restaurant - preferably an upscale location - and order a meal. But then they would intentionally eat glass they had brought along. They would complain to the restaurant, be rushed to the hospital and receive treatment for ingesting glass. But instead of suing the restaurants - which would be far too easy - they would simply pocket the insurance money and bilk the medical facility that treated their glass ingestion.

Now folks, you have to be pretty odd to concoct a scheme that involves eating glass and suffering the pains of its removal either medically or naturally. But time and time again, the Evanos did just that. For nearly 10 years, the couple left a trail of well over $200,000 in unpaid medical bills while they spent the insurance money.

Since the couple figured that someone may eventually smell their fraud, they used fake names and social security numbers or identity cards. This was no spur of the moment fraud. They put some serious thought into how they could pocket some illegal money and live to laugh about it.

Well, time finally caught up with the pair and Ronald Evano is now in jail. His wife is still on the run. Some insurance snoop smelled something fishy and that brought law enforcement into the case. They then - pardon the pun - just followed the trail of broken glass.

The Evanos saw life through a half-empty glass. Then they ate it.

If there is any justice in life - and I believe there is - the Evanos will pay in the end. And they'll pay in the end in more ways than one, if you know what I mean.