The strange case of the convicted hedge fund manager who faked his own death before he was supposed to report to jail has taken another turn. His lady friend is a squealer.

Samuel Israel III, has officially been deemed a 'not dead' fugitive by authorities after they found his abandoned SUV on a bridge over the Hudson River with the message 'Suicide is Painless' scrawled in dirt on the windshield. After his body never washed ashore and authorities realized his 'dirt note' was actually the TV theme song of M*A*S*H, the hunt for the man on the run began.

First stop: Sammy's girlfriend, Debra Ryan. After 10 days of interrogation she revealed that the day before he disappeared, she had assisted him in packing all his worldly possessions into an RV and dropping the vehicle off at spot not too far from his 'death site'. Turns out he also packed with him his blue 2005 Yamaha scooter. Nice! Chalk another one up for Vespas/scooters being smart. Use #56: Save Gas and Look Cool While On The Run From The Law!

I hope this whole fugitive thing ends in a slow speed chase with Sammy on his scooter on some Upstate NY highway. After the jump - silly aliases and crappy police work.

Ms. Ryan, the worst gf ever, is listed as a 'decorator' by trade and now faces up to 10 years in prison for aiding and abetting her boyfriend's flight. (I'm guessing she's probably an 'interior decorator'. Have you ever noticed there are no 'exterior decorators'? More house painters, landscapers, and maybe ever architects should start calling themselves that, adding some jazz to their title.)

Probably the best little bit of info that was revealed today was about Israel's fugitive 'aliases' from the New York Times article:

The marshals said the public should be on the lookout for Mr. Israel in “R.V. parks, campgrounds or highway rest areas,” and added that he had been known to use the aliases of Sam Ryan and David S. Clapp.

Mr. Israel suffers from severe back pain, according to court records, and has had a long battle with an addiction to prescription painkillers. At the time of his disappearance, he was scheduled for the latest in a series of operations on his spine.

Sam Ryan? Somebody likes his female New York sports reporters a lot. But what about 'David S. Clapp'? Could this be a reference to some possible battle with gonorrhea in the 80s? Only time will tell I guess.

Authorities should have realized sooner that because of Israel's horrible back pain, that suicidal jump off a bridge into the Hudson River would have been hell on him. Shoddy police work, if you ask me.

If you see fugitive Sammy Israel cruising around the East Coast in his RV or on his Yamaha scooter this weekend, be sure to leave a note in the comments section. I'm pretty sure the police will be monitoring it.

NYT: Fugitive Fund Manager's Girlfriend Is Charged, June 20, 2008

Two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers are among the first to take the perp-walk to court for the huge sub-prime collapse. Let the fun begin.

Ralph Cioffi and Michael Tannin (pictured in middle)were indicted by a federal grand jury in Brooklyn today. At 7AM this morning, Cioffi was arrested at his suburban home in Tenafly, NJ, while Tannin was given the cuffs at his Manhattan apartment. 7 AM is a little early for an arrest, right? Do you think they got a chance to have breakfast and read today's Wall Street Journal? Or that sweet comic book Portfolio did?

These two lovable chaps face charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and securities fraud in trying to cover up the collapse of two major Bear Stearns hedge-funds back in the summer of 2007. Many people feel their collapse was the first sign of the sub-prime crisis that would ravage Wall Street and the economy for months. For further explanation check out the last 3 minutes of this little refresher video where these specific funds get reamed by the Brits.

According to a Bloomberg article which broke the news and provided these images, justice is on the way:

The two men were charged with misleading investors about the health of two Bear Stearns hedge funds whose implosion ignited the subprime mortgage crisis. Cioffi was also charged with insider trading in the indictment, which cites a series of e-mails between the two men. They face as much as 20 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges.

I'd be seriously surprised if they got 20 years, but who knows, maybe they'll get hyped up as scapegoats for all the country's economic woes?

The justice department is on a roll today though, as they've also announced they have, to date, charged 400 people with crimes relating to mortgage fraud in the sub-prime crisis. These charges are a result of victims being scammed out of over $1 billion in predatory lending and foreclosure rip-offs.

No one is safe today as the lucky 400 include real estate agents, lawyers, lenders, appraisers and even some speculative borrowers.

Bloomberg news sure is busy today with the big arrest reports:

FBI Director Robert Mueller and Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip will announce the national crackdown, dubbed Operation Malicious Mortgage, this afternoon in Washington. Nearly 300 people have been arrested thus far in cities ranging from Chicago to Dallas to Miami, department officials said.

I like that name, "Operation Malicious Mortgage". Maybe they'll make a Tom Clancy novel out of it? Or better yet, a Rainbow Six/Splinter Cell game showing sniper soldiers taking out corrupt real estate agents all over the country. Pink mist ahoy!

We've waited a long time for some action from the government, but it's still too early to tell if this is an adequate response to make up for everything that went down in sub-prime. It seems like a decent start, but they better keep 'em coming.

Bloomberg: US Charges 400 In Mortgage Fraud, June 19, 2008

Bloomberg: Ex-Bear Stearns Fund Managers Indicted, June 19, 2008

Many people hit hard by the economic recession are reporting crimes to the police for reward money to supplement income.

'Crime Stopper' hotlines all over the country have been ringing off the hook with people trying to get money to pay for increased gas prices, food prices, and rent after having a home foreclosed.

But how much can you really earn from turning in your friends or neighbors?

According to an article in yesterday's New York Times:

... programs in most places pay $50 to $1,000, with some jurisdictions giving bonuses for help solving the most serious crimes, or an extra “gun bounty” if a weapon is recovered. In Sussex County, NJ the average payment for a tip that results in an arrest is $400, Sergeant Beller said.

“Usually you deliver the money in an unmarked car and meet them somewhere,” he said. “But these people come right to the office and walk right through the front door.”

Wow, these people are ballsy. I would be worried someone's 'boyz' would get pissed and come after me if they saw me counting $100 bills just after their ringleader got clinked. But I suppose these people have more important things to with their time than lay low and mess around with discreet packages from unmarked cars.

The article also goes on to point out that no matter how much the Crime Stoppers spokespeople illustrate a tipsters' sense of righteousness or moral virtue, the Crime Stoppers slogans and logos are all about hyping up the money aspect of the transaction:

“Crime doesn’t pay but we do,” say the mobile billboards cruising Jacksonville, Fla. A poster in Jackson, Tenn., draws a neat equation: “Ring Ring + Bling Bling = Cha-Ching.” The bling, in this case, is a pair of handcuffs.

Probably not the same 'bling', Lil Wayne and the rest of the Cash Money Millionaires sang poetically about during the dawn of the term in the late 90s.

However, the rise in people ratting out their grandchildren, ex-boyfriends, and neighbors has spawned a new industry and given a few 'entrepreneurs' a new career (via the NYT article):

“We have people out there that, realistically, this could be their job,” said Sgt. Zachary Self, who answers Crime Stoppers calls for the Macon, GA Police Department.

“Two or three arrests per week, you could make $700, $750 per week,” Sergeant Self said. “You could make better than a minimum-wage job.”

Could this soon replace Wal-Mart as the hottest minimum wage job in town? I can see it now, a couple of enterprising senior citizens sitting on the porch, binoculars handy, and the Crime Stoppers number on speed dial.

One could argue that the likelihood of citizens not being able to make ends meet due to the recession has forced more people to commit crimes such as burglary, robbery, and drugs. And therefore, in a natural correlation, the Crime Stoppers call volume has increased as well.

But I don't buy that theory, it seems a lot more likely that snitchin' on the thugs and punks down the street has become a much more accessible option with text messaging as a means of reporting crimes.

Does anyone think it's possible criminals are being turned in by their family/spouses, and then bailed out with a portion of the reward money? If you keep a 20% profit out of the whole deal, is it worth the trouble?

New York Times: As Prices Rise, Crime Tipsters Work Overtime, May 18, 2008