Man Cut Off Friend's Hand in Insurance Scam

We've covered a lot of weird crimes here on Neatorama, but this is the stupidest hands down:

A Midlands man is in jail accused of working with two other people to defraud an insurance company by intentionally cutting a person's hand off with a pole saw and then filing an insurance claim.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Gerald B. Hardin, 34, of Cayce, was arrested on charges that he and two other people committed mail fraud in May 2008.
Prosecutors said, while living in Sumter, Hardin and another person devised a plan to use a small chain saw attached to a pole to cut the third person's hand off.
The three participants, according to a six-count indictment, then submitted claims against a homeowner's insurance policy and three accidental death and dismemberment policies and received over $671,000.

Can you imagine the conversation that got this whole thing started? "Dude, you've got two hands - what do you need two hands for? One is enough! Here's my plan ..."

Link - via News of the Weird

I really, really want to see the man who agreed to have his hand cut off, and split the proceeds with two other guys who got to keep theirs.
I have a bridge to sell to him.

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Wait a sec....why does it have to be MY hand? If this is such a good idea, why don't we cut off YOUR hand?

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Just as long as it was someone elses hand you were cutting off because $671,000 is 223k split three ways....... or $335500 if you double cross the guy and just let him bleed to death after you cut his hand off.