Samuel Israel III

Samuel Israel III
Born July 20, 1959
New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Occupation Former hedge fund manager and investment advisor
Criminal charge
 Fraud
Criminal penalty
 sentenced to 22 years
Criminal status Incarcerated

Samuel Israel III (born July 20, 1959) is an American born former hedge fund manager for the Bayou Hedge Fund Group, which he founded in 1996.

Biography

Israel was born into a prominent Jewish family from New Orleans.[1]

Manhunt and arrest

His 2006 GMC Envoy was found abandoned on the Bear Mountain Bridge on June 10, 2008 with the following written in dust on the hood, "Suicide is Painless," the title of the theme song from the M*A*S*H TV series. Police suspected that this was an attempt by Israel to fake his own death in order to avoid prison.[2] Israel's girlfriend, Debra Ryan, was arrested for aiding and abetting his escape later in June 2008, and was released on bail. According to police, Ryan admitted that she and Israel parked an RV loaded with Israel's belongings near Bear Mountain Bridge on the day before his disappearance.[3] The pair have been featured on America's Most Wanted.[4]

Israel surrendered to federal authorities on July 2, 2008. NBC aired a Dateline segment about him on September 5, 2008.[5]

Sentenced in April 2008 to 20 years in federal prison, Israel had failed to report to prison June 9, 2008. Under intense questioning, his girlfriend, Deb Ryan, admitted to helping him escape. He was eventually tracked down to a campground in Granville, Massachusetts, and surrendered to authorities on July 2, 2008. As a consequence, he was further sentenced on July 15, 2009, to an additional two years in prison while his girlfriend was sentenced to 3 years probation. He is serving his sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Butner Low in Butner, North Carolina; his earliest possible release date is September 12, 2027.

He is the subject of an episode of American Greed (#25) on CNBC, which was first broadcast February 3, 2010.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Search for a Missing Trader Goes Global, The New York Times, 14 June 2008.
  2. ↑ Suicide note left on swindler's car on bridge, New York Post, 10 June 2008.
  3. ↑ Fugitive Fund Manager’s Girlfriend Is Charged, The New York Times, 20 June 2008.
  4. ↑ Samuel Israel - Fugitive, America's Most Wanted
  5. ↑ Hedge-fund swindler Israel surrenders, Reuters

External links