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 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 Purple 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 residence plate sporting a blue shirt, the Marshals Service mentioned in a information launch.
A video clip from the sport confirmed a person becoming Ruffo’s description was sitting a number of rows behind residence plate. Earlier than that doable 2016 sighting, Ruffo hadn’t been seen since 1998 at an ATM in New York, the Marshals Service mentioned.
Investigators have been capable of slim the seat all the way down to Part 1 Dugout Membership, Row EE, Seat 10. However despite the fact that they discovered the seat and recognized the one that purchased the seats, they have not been capable of determine the person within the blue shirt.
Ruffo is now the topic of the ABC Information 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 subsequent 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 possible be utilizing an alias.
A ‘grasp manipulator’ who enjoys ‘superb wine, playing and good lodges’
Since Ruffo disappeared, the Marshals Service says it has chased a whole lot 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 identified to be laptop savvy and enjoys superb wines, playing, and good lodges,” the information launch mentioned. “He’s reportedly lactose-intolerant. Ruffo was identified to be a storyteller, somebody who appreciated to stretch the reality, and had a want to impress others. He has been known as a grasp manipulator.”
Due to his time as a businessman in New York, investigators say, Ruffo has quite a lot of worldwide connections. He had traveled to Aruba and confirmed curiosity in Italy, the place he was identified to have traveled prior to now.
Given these sturdy worldwide ties and a probability that Ruffo might 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 supplied for any info resulting in Ruffo’s arrest.
