The Fraternity of Financier Fugitives

June 17, 2008 — -- Former hedge fund manager Sam Israel III, who authorities believe staged his death last week by abandoning his car near a bridge over the Hudson River, is considered the latest member of the fraternity of fugitive financiers.

Israel was hours away from beginning a 20-year federal prison sentence when he disappeared on June 9 and law enforcement agents consider him "armed and dangerous."

By coincidence, the law firm representing Israel has another prominent client who is a fugitive from justice.

Jacob "Kobi" Alexander fled to Namibia in 2006 just before federal prosecutors charged him with criminal fraud in a case tied to allegations of illegal backdating of stock options at his former company, Comverse Technology, Inc.

Alexander recently flew 200 guests from the United States and Israel on private planes to attend his son's four-day-long bar mitzvah celebration in Namibia, reported the Wall Street Journal.

His lawyer, Robert Morvillo, a prominent white-collar criminal defense lawyer who previously represented Martha Stewart and former AIG CEO Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, did not return calls for this story, but he has said that very few of the firm's clients go on the run.

"I know over the years I've had clients come in and say can you research extradition treaties for me, and I say 'no.' I'm not going to do that," he told the New York Times. "That is not a service I provide, but if you're thinking of running away let me tell you all the reason I wouldn't do it.''

In addition to possibly Israel, other hedge fund managers and financiers who have dodged authorities and gone on the run include: