John Ruffo, a most wanted fugitive for 23 years, may have been spotted at a Dodgers game, the US Marshals Service says
John Ruffo was convicted within the late Nineteen Nineties of a $350 million financial institution fraud scheme and sentenced to 17 1/2 years in jail. He was given bond however by no means confirmed as much as jail to serve his sentence.
About $13 million of the cash was by no means recovered.
In September 2016, a tip got here in to investigators that Ruffo, now 66, had been at a Boston Crimson Sox and LA Dodgers baseball sport in Los Angeles a month earlier, on August 5, 2016, and that he was sitting about 4 rows up from house plate carrying a blue shirt, the Marshals Service mentioned in a news launch.
A video clip from the sport confirmed a person becoming Ruffo’s description was sitting a number of rows behind house plate. Earlier than that attainable 2016 sighting, Ruffo hadn’t been seen since 1998 at an ATM in New York, the Marshals Service mentioned.
Investigators have been capable of slender the seat right down to Part 1 Dugout Membership, Row EE, Seat 10. However although they discovered the seat and recognized the one who purchased the seats, they have not been capable of establish the person within the blue shirt.
Ruffo is now the topic of the ABC News podcast “Have You Seen This Man?”
After his conviction for his half in what the Marshals Service says is among the largest financial institution fraud scams in US historical past, Ruffo was given a $10 million bond and ordered to report back to a federal jail in New Jersey on November 9, 1998, to start serving his 210-month sentence. However he by no means confirmed.
An arrest warrant was issued the following day. US marshals discovered that on November 9, Ruffo drove a rental automobile to the long-term car parking zone at John F. Kennedy Worldwide Airport. It is believed he rented the automobile earlier that day in Manhattan and withdrew cash from an ATM on the way in which to the New York airport, the Marshals Service mentioned.
Investigators say if the person within the blue shirt is Ruffo, he’ll seemingly be utilizing an alias.
A ‘grasp manipulator’ who enjoys ‘nice wine, playing and good motels’
Since Ruffo disappeared, the Marshals Service says it has chased lots of of leads throughout the USA and worldwide. Whereas there have been a number of reported sightings of Ruffo, the ATM {photograph} is the final confirmed sighting.
Ruffo was 5 toes 5 inches, 23 years in the past and weighed roughly 170 kilos, the Marshals Service mentioned.
“He’s recognized to be pc savvy and enjoys nice wines, playing, and good motels,” the news launch mentioned. “He’s reportedly lactose-intolerant. Ruffo was recognized to be a storyteller, somebody who preferred to stretch the reality, and had a need to impress others. He has been referred to as a grasp manipulator.”
Due to his time as a businessman in New York, investigators say, Ruffo has a wide range of worldwide connections. He had traveled to Aruba and confirmed curiosity in Italy, the place he was recognized to have traveled prior to now.
Given these robust worldwide ties and a chance that Ruffo could possibly be dwelling abroad, needed posted have been translated into seven languages, the Marshals Service mentioned.
A reward of as much as $25,000 is being provided for any data resulting in Ruffo’s arrest.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/06/us/us-marshals-dodgers-most-wanted-fugitive-trnd/index.html | John Ruffo, a most needed fugitive for 23 years, might have been noticed at a Dodgers sport, the US Marshals Service says