Dec. 6 (Bloomberg) -- The sons of a man who turned up five years after being presumed dead in a kayaking accident said they will have been "victims in a large scam" if reports that their mother knew their father was still alive are confirmed.
"If the papers' allegations of a confession from our mam are true then we very much feel that we have been the victims in a large scam," Anthony and Mark Darwin said in a statement released by Cleveland police on the force's Web site. "How could our mam continue to let us believe our dad had died when he was very much alive""
John Darwin, 57, was arrested on suspicion of fraud yesterday, four days after he walked into a police station and said he had amnesia. Questioning will begin today, Cleveland police said.
His wife, Anne Darwin, 55, confirmed the authenticity of a photograph of her and her husband taken with a real estate agent in Panama after John Darwin went missing, the Daily Telegraph reported today. She moved to the Central American country six weeks ago, after selling the family home near the English port of Hartlepool, the newspaper reported, and said she had collected on his life insurance.
"I can't believe that picture of me and John has come out," she said in Panama City, according to the Telegraph. "Well, I guess that picture answers a lot of questions." The former receptionist said, "The whole situation is a total mess," and that their sons "are never going to forgive me."
