Was having a conversation with a friend of mine about Madoff and other Ponzi scheme perpetrators. The one thing that always puzzled me is why didn't they run. But if you do run, what are your options? Assuming you have some cash at your disposal, let's say 1-3 mm USD, what would be the action plan to live the rest of your life free and comfortable? Is it even tenable these days?
Lets watch the Paul Manaforte saga unwind. 'Cause if anybody was gonna beat feet... I would suspect he would.
Well, what would be his process? Say you are an Evil Guy and at 3pm you find that you are going to jail? Your first actions?
There are several books available on how to disappear, but the first thing someone should do in 2017 is to ditch your cell phone. It pings your location every time you pass a cell phone tower and if you have the locator/map function turned on, it will chart a graph of everywhere you go. Then the govt searches 'find my iphone' and they know where you are within a 1 block radius. Get rid of your debit cards and credit cards because they leave a track of everywhere you have been and if they get a warrant to shut down your accounts, well.......it doesn't take long to get hungry. Pay cash for everything. If you have several million........go to Brazil. They don't have extradition agreements with the U.S. Well, they will do it for murder; but it's difficult. Get rid of your laptop and buy a new one to change ISP addresses and the ID on your computer. Don't bother emailing your family because they will trace it back. Get a new email address. That is what I would do on day 1, flying out the door. It's a lot harder to disappear in 2017 than it was in 1917.
Right, obviously. I would imagine, though, that someone who's got resources can build up a "life boat" of some sort. Build up identities outside the country, have money stashed away etc. Someone like Madoff should have thoughts about it at some point before the heat was on him, don't you think?
Even the worse white collar criminals feel something called guilt and have family ties. Vanishing without a trace takes a far more insideous psychological make up than most-/ I think even bernie said he turned himself in to save his children.