http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/23/state/n070414S99.DTL&feed=rss.news I dont get it. If I was able to construct such a scheme, I know that I would not get away with it forever. Most likely, after about 10-20 million in profit I would then take all of the money and move to another country that is without an extradition treaty. In fact, if he had quit at a certain point then maybe he would have never been discovered. Simply dismantle the company, quit the company and move off to another country for a few years until the heat is off or the statute of limitations has passed.
Have you ever felt the light of greed? You can no more quit the game than you can pull-out. If anything, the feelings are even more intense. Trust me, that's a feeling that you just don't want to stop. P.S. On top of all that, you also think that you're so smart that you'll never get caught ... certainly not by the sheep you are fleecing.
I have felt the light of greed, but have the common sense to know that it doesnt last forever. This guy was not using common sense...i.e. leaving out paperwork on his desk at work basically outlining his scam, pay 16 million to Las Vegas Sands... Im wondering how it went on for so long. If it were me, then at some point I would call it quits and then have my ticket ready to get to another country quickly...
Don't believe everything you read. They probably figured it out by spying on him or using some other questionable method, which told them what he was doing. Then they just needed to find some plausible evidence that was out in the open to "discover" the scheme. If he left spreadsheets out chances are they were so opaque he thought it was safe.
I think it would be really hard for him to just "disappear" The guy drives ferraris...not exactly hard to find a guy that puts himself in the limelight like that. 20 million would go fast at the rate he spends it. Heck...16 million just for one weekend in vegas? And its pretty hard to drive a ferrari around in one of those 3rd world non-extriditing countries. He would be kidnapped and ransomed so fast, his head would spin.