Businessman Reported Dead in 2013 -- Then Arrested in North Carolina

— -- The story was that Jose Lantigua, an American businessman, became ill and died on vacation in Venezuela in 2013. But insurance companies and his lenders were suspicious.

It turns out they were right to be skeptical. Over the weekend, Lantiqua, 62, was alive and placed under arrest in North Carolina.

Now, in addition to criminal charges of insurance fraud, Lantigua will have to face a tangle of civil lawsuits over matters like debts related to his furniture company, Circle K, in Jacksonville, Florida, and approximately $10 million in life insurance policies, according to Florida Assistant State Attorney Joe Licandro.

Lantigua was arrested on Saturday in Bumcombe County, North Carolina, where he was with his wife, Daphne Simpson, who had been backing up the claims that he was dead, according to authorities. Licandro declined to say what led to Lantigua's arrest and declined to make public the arrest warrant, pending an active criminal investigation.

Following the news that Lantigua was alive, the attorney representing his interests in civil lawsuits, Joshua Woolsey, told ABC News he would be filing motions to withdraw from the cases.

"I and the law firm were shocked to learn this morning that we have been defrauded by acting and relying on the information that indicated he was dead," Woolsey said, according to The Associated Press.

Law enforcement, apparently, was not as shocked as Woolsey to learn Lantigua was alive.

"We obviously always had doubts that he was, in fact, dead," Licandro told ABC News. "I was not surprised that he was ultimately arrested."

Licandro added that the reported story about how Lantigua died, "of an illness or complications from mad cow disease in Venezuela," was "very implausible."

A Venezuelan document claimed Lantigua’s body was cremated, the AP reported, citing a lawsuit related to Lantigua’s disappearance.

Lantigua is in federal custody in North Carolina, Licandro said. Simpson was released by authorities in North Carolina but arrested and jailed in Florida, the AP reported. It was unclear whether Lantigua or Simpson had a new attorney to replace Woolsey, officials said.

Lantigua and his wife are being charged with seven counts of fraudulent insurance claims and one count of schemes to defraud, Licandro told ABC News. Each charge is a first-degree felony that can lead to as many as 30 years in prison.

There also are lawsuits over life insurance payouts Lantigua's family had filed claims to collect after his "death," Licandro said.

And even before his reported death, Lantigua had used life insurance policies as collateral for some loans, according to Charles Jimerson, an attorney for American Enterprise Bank, which filed a suit against Lantigua and his estate once he went missing.

"We were just one creditor of the many creditors that Mr. Lantigua defrauded through his duplicitous schemes," Jimerson told ABC News.

Jimerson said he was "shocked" at the arrest.

American Enterprise Bank had given Lantigua a personal loan of $2 million in 2012 for a capital injection into Lantigua's business interests, Jimerson said. The bank alleges that Lantigua falsified loan documents and wants him to repay the money.

"American Enterprise Bank is a dynamic and high-performing bank," Jimerson said. "While it's unfortunate that the bank has been defrauded, it is seeking to recover any amounts due just as any business that was defrauded will seek to recover."