Expensive Cigars

A Charlotte, NC, man, having purchased a case of very rare, very
expensive cigars, insured them against fire (among other things.) Within
a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of cigars and without even
having  made his first premium payment on the policy, the man filed a
claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the man stated the
cigars were lost "in a series of small fires." The insurance company
refused to pay, citing the obvious reason that the man had consumed the
cigars in the normal fashion. The man sued and won. In delivering the
ruling the judge, agreeing that the claim was frivolous, stated
nevertheless that the man held a policy from the company in which it had
warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it
would insure against fire, without defining what it considered to be
"unacceptable fire," and was obligated to pay the claim.

Rather than endure a lengthy and costly appeal process the insurance
company accepted the ruling and paid the man $15,000 for the rare cigars
he lost in "the fires." After the man cashed the check, however, the
company had him arrested on 24 counts of arson. With his own insurance
claim and using his testimony against him, the man was convicted of
intentionally burning his insured property and sentenced to 24 months in
jail and a $24,000 fine.