'Dead' canoeist charged with fraud

HARTLEPOOL, England, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- John Darwin, who resurfaced in London five years after he was supposedly killed in a canoeing accident, was charged with fraud Saturday.

The charges include making false statements on a passport application and obtaining a fraudulent money transfer, The Daily Mail reported.

Darwin was arrested Tuesday, three days after he walked into a London police station claiming to have lost his memory. The Northern Echo, citing a source in the Cleveland Police, said Darwin at one point told police he did suffer several months of amnesia after a canoeing accident and then discovered that his wife had collected on his life insurance policy.

Anne Darwin moved to Panama several weeks before her husband reappeared. She is likely to be arrested if she returns to Britain.

There have been reports that Darwin obtained a passport in the name John Jones and considered buying a yacht in Gibraltar. Anne Darwin reportedly set up a corporation in Panama to buy land on Lake Gatun for a tourism business.