Photo: U.S Marshals
The U.S. Marshals Service is asking the public for help in identifying a man who attended a Los Angeles Dodgers game in 2016.
Carmine Pascale, toldABC NewsTuesday that he was watching the Boston Red Sox play the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Aug. 5, 2016, when someone in the stands caught his eye. He believed it was his cousin John Ruffo, who disappeared in 1998 after being convicted in Virginia for partaking in a $350 million bank fraud scheme.
“I’m watching and right behind home plate, they did a close up of the batter and there’s Johnny. And I said, ‘Holy Christ, there he is,’ " Pascale told the outlet, which is focusing on the manhunt for Ruffo in season 2 of its podcastHave You Seen This Man?
Ruffo, 65, was due to begin a 17 ½-year prison sentence in November 1998 at a New Jersey federal prison, but never showed.
US Marshals
Five years ago, Pascale told the outlet that he “immediately” called the U.S. Marshals after spotting the man in Dodgers blue watching the game from the stands. “I froze the frame, kept it right in front of me,” he said.
Now, investigators are eager to know if the man seen at the game is a lookalike or the fugitive himself, who is among the15 most wantedin the country for his involvement in “one of the largest bank fraud scams in American history,” the U.S. Marshals' Office said in astatement.
Deputy Pat Valdenor, an L.A.- based Marshall assigned to explore the tip, told ABC that while he was able to identify the ticket holder for the seat at the August 2016 game, he hit a dead end after learning that the original ticket holder had given their spot away.
“It does get frustrating,” Valdenor told the outlet of chasing leads. “Especially every time you get a name, you think that this is gonna be it. Or at least one step closer. And in this particular case– every name I got, every name I checked off is one step further away.”
Still, Pascale believes the man he saw on screen was indeed Ruffo. “Hiding in plain sight,” he told ABC News. “Brazen, confident. ‘They ain’t gonna get me. Catch me if you can.’ "
Sharing information that may be helpful in locating Ruffo, U.S. Marshals said he measured 5-foot-5 inches and weighed about 170 lbs. in 1998, according to a2020 bulletin.
In the bulletin, U.S. Marshals Service Director Donald Washington said investigators believe Ruffo, who had been a New York businessman, islikely living overseas"in Europe, the Caribbean, or Central or South America” under an alias, though “it is possible” he still resides in the United States.
“It only takes one tip for us to catch up with Ruffo,” Washington said. “By now, he is likely well established and comfortable in whatever alias he is living under. He could be anywhere on the globe.”
Law enforcement is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to Ruffo’s arrest, per the release.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the U.S. Marshals Service Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102.
source: people.com
