Hedge fund swindler Israel denied bail, jailed
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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund swindler Samuel Israel III faced a fresh charge of bail jumping on Thursday and was ordered to jail immediately, one day after his mother convinced him to end a high-profile run from justice.Israel, who faked his own death nearly four weeks ago to avoid a 20-year prison sentence for cheating investors out of $450 million, was denied bail by Judge Colleen McMahon in federal court in Manhattan. He will likely face additional prison time for having failed to show up at a Massachusetts prison on June 9.McMahon originally sentenced Israel in April but allowed the man who engineered the $2 trillion hedge fund industry's most brazen scam ever to remain free for weeks so that prison officials could get the medications he needs ready.Flanked by two lawyers, the 48-year old co-founder of Bayou Group hedge fund was dressed in a blue T-shirt and sweatpants and smiled and waving to someone in the courtroom.Israel, who has a pacemaker and was addicted to prescription pain killers to relieve chronic back pain, told the court he tried to commit suicide by swallowing pills two days ago. "I thought it was better to do myself in than to turn myself in."When that attempt failed however, Israel said he thought God had wanted him to surrender. This and his mother's pleas, made him leave the campground where he had been hiding out in a mobile home and ride his blue scooter to the nearest police station in Southwick, Massachusetts, officials have said.Last month Israel briefly duped police into thinking he had killed himself by having abandoned his car on a New York bridge above the Hudson River with the words "suicide is painless" scrawled on the hood in dust. With no body however, police quickly realized that Israel was a fugitive and spent thousands of hours searching for him around the country.A grand jury is expected to hand up an indictment in the next 30 days, and Israel did not enter a plea on Thursday.(Reporting by Paul Thomasch and Matt Daily in New York, with additional reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston; editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Dave Zimmerman) (c) Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
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