Sam Israel Vanishes Again!
Back before Bernie Madoff came along and hogged the spotlight, there was Samuel Israel, the hedge fund founder who ripped off investors to the tune of $450 million, got caught, tried to fake his own death, failed, turned himself in, and was ultimately sentenced to 20 years in prison for his crimes. His legal ordeal isn't over yet. Last Friday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against him after he asked the court to reduce his sentence. Next month, additional time will be added to his sentence for that bail-jumping stunt that had him on the lam for three weeks last year. But Israel's tendency to vanish into thin air may be alive and well.
According to the official inmate database for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, he isn't in "BOP custody." We're going to assume this is a technical glitch of some sort on the part of the federal prisons system.
But if you do see a bearded man with a tattoo on his hip and he tells you he's a hedge fund manager but all he has to back up his claim is a business card that he's clearly printed on his color inkjet printer, you probably should notify the authorities.
