- Dubai World Debt Gets No State Guarantee: Official
- Dubai Stocks Shed 7%, Abu Dhabi Tumbles 8%
- Regulators Compile Global List of 'Systemic Risk' Banks
- BofA Aims to Clearly Spell Out Credit Card Terms
- What Black Friday Shoppers Spent on – And Where
- Partridge Demand Slump Doesn't Offset '12 Days' Costs
- Dubai's Nakheel Seeks Suspension $5.25 Billion in Bonds
- A Weak IPO Debut for Las Vegas Sands' Macau Unit
- US Senator Opposes Fed Chief Bernanke Renomination
- Tamminen: Copenhagen And Beyond
- Dubai is Harsh Reminder of Prolonged Global Recovery
- Tiger Woods Wants to Protect Family Privacy: Agent
- Portfolio Prep for Next Week: 'Don't Get Crazy'
- U.S. Stocks Fall on Dubai Worries
- Black Friday at Best Buy
- Strategists on Dubai: Avoid 'Rash Moves' Now
- Longer Lines, Fuller Carts This Black Friday
- Dubai Stock Market Fear Has 'Legs': Dennis Gartman
MOST SHARED
- US Shoppers Spent Less Over Black Friday: NRF
- Tiger Woods Wants to Protect Family Privacy: Agent
- Dubai Stocks Shed 7%, Abu Dhabi Tumbles 8%
- South Korea Sees Exports Bouncing, but Risks Remain
- Dubai's Nakheel Seeks Suspension $5.25 Billion in Bonds
- Dubai is Harsh Reminder of Prolonged Global Recovery
- US Senator Opposes Fed Chief Bernanke Renomination
- Sands China Ends 10.2% Lower in Hong Kong Debut
- Japan Won't Intervene to Weaken Yen: Finance Minister
Text Size 
U.S. Marshals are questioning a man in connection with the disappearance of convicted hedge fund millionaire Samuel Israel, according to a report from WNBC.
 |
Investigators said it is too soon to know if the man is linked to Israel. But Marshals are investigating his whereabouts Monday.
This could be the first big break in the investigation into whether the convicted Bayou Hedge Fund swindler is running from the law.
Investigators still have not ruled out a suicide and continue to search the Hudson River for a body. But this latest lead gives investigators added concern that Israel faked his own death in order to try to run from the law.
Police thought Israel, who was scheduled to begin serving a 20-year prison term for fraud June 9, may have plunged to his death after finding his abandoned car on the Bear Mountain Bridge in New York.
The words "suicide is painless'' were written on it. The phrase was the title of the theme song from the television show ''M+A+S+H.'' But with no body found, other government agencies quickly jumped on the case and are now broadening their search for the man who engineered the $1.8 trillion hedge fund industry's most brazen and long-running fraud.
Israel, 48, and his partners pocketed millions as investors in his Bayou Group hedge fund lost more than $400 million over eight years, court papers show.
The bridge where Israel's car was found crosses one of the deepest parts of the Hudson River and police said it could take a few days for a body to surface and wash ashore.
Suspicions that Israel may have staged his death mounted because there were no witnesses, and video cameras along the bridge's spans showed the car traveling on the bridge but were not clear on what happened next. The FBI now has the tapes.
Israel, who once hinted at suicide in a letter to the judge sentencing him, pleaded in April with U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon for a lighter prison term because he suffered debilitating back pain and was addicted to pain killers.
McMahon was not moved and sentenced Israel to 20 years but let him stay free on bail from April to June so that the federal prison system would be able to prepare to take care of his needs.
Israel was scheduled to serve his time at Federal Medical Center Devens, located 40 miles outside of Boston, which houses offenders who need long-term medical or mental health care.
If Israel is on the run it would not be the first time for a hedge fund manager to have escaped. Kirk Wright, who recently hanged himself in his jail cell after having been convicted of cheating professional football players, was missing for months. Also Michael Berger, another hedge fund manager who lost millions, was arrested last year in Europe after having evaded authorities for years.
Print
Email
- These four sectors will be the next to lead the market.
- Zhu Zhu Pets are this year's must-have toy, fetching $40 or more on eBay.
- From the why-didn’t-I-think-of-that file, we present Jason Sadler, a man whose job is wearing T-shirts.
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- Shopping for a gadget hound? The choices can be baffling. Here are a few that should be a hit.
- "The Who" will be the halftime act for Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7 in Miami. Is the NFL behind the times?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes