US hedge fund fraudster's disappearance sparks manhunt
NEW YORK (AFP) — US authorities have launched a manhunt for a convicted hedge fund fraudster, Samuel Israel, who failed to report to prison this week, officials said.
Israel was sentenced to a hefty 20-year jail term in April after pleading guilty to defrauding investors out of over 450 million dollars tied to the now-collapsed Bayou hedge funds.
The missing hedge fund manager, 48, was meant to report to prison to begin his long jail term on Monday, but he failed to show up.
A sport utility vehicle (SUV) belonging to Israel was found abandoned on Monday near the Bear Mountain Bridge which spans the Hudson River in New York state.
The words "suicide is painless" were scrawled in dust across the front of the SUV, according to a photograph of the vehicle released to the media.
A warrant has been issued for Israel's arrest and as of Wednesday afternoon, the convicted fraudster had still not been found by the police.
"No new developments," a New York state police official said.
The United States Marshals Service, which tracks down missing fugitives, said in a statement that it had joined the hunt for Israel and was acting as the lead agency in trying to locate the missing financier.
The US Marshals released a poster featuring Israel's picture and a warning that he "should be considered armed and dangerous."
Dozens of people have committed suicide from the Bear Mountain Bridge since the 1980s, but police usually find the bodies after people jump off the bridge, according to media reports.
No witnesses have come forward so far to say they saw Israel jump from the high bridge, which sits 41 meters (135 feet) above the Hudson River's mean high-water mark.
"We are looking for Samuel Israel and haven't foreclosed any possibilities," a spokeswoman for the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York said.
Israel pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud and mail fraud charges set by the Southern District office in late 2005.
Government investigators have said that Israel participated in the investment scam between 1996 and 2005 and that he misappropriated millions of dollars in investors' money for his personal use.
Israel was also accused of telling investors that the funds he managed were profitable when in fact they never posted a year-end profit.
His trial marked one of the largest hedge fund fraud cases prosecuted by the government.
