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Have You Seen This Man?

S2 | Trailer: Join the Global Manhunt for John Ruffo

Have You Seen This Man?

ABC News

True Crime

4.22.6K Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2021

⏱️ 2 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

John Ruffo was an unassuming computer salesman from Brooklyn who engineered one of the most outlandish frauds in American history. He received a 17-year sentence for his $350 million swindle -- but his story didn’t end there. After he turned in his ankle monitor, Ruffo made a final stop at an ATM, drove to JFK Airport and vanished. The ABC News investigative unit now joins the U.S. Marshals as they span the globe and uncover surprising details about his cloak-and-dagger past. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

On a brisk day in November 1998, a doughy, bolding computer salesman from Brooklyn was supposed to report to prison to begin a 17-year sentence.

0:13.0

He rented a four-tours and drove to Queens to turn in his ankle monitor.

0:18.0

Then, he took $600 out of an ATM, headed to JFK Airport, and vanished.

0:26.0

His name was John Rufo. The crime he committed was outlandish.

0:32.0

They said he was one of the biggest con men of the century.

0:35.0

His life was a haul of mirrors.

0:37.0

He says, I'm going to picture a Rufo with the New York Swat team and the assistant director of the FBI.

0:44.0

His $353 million fraud left a trail of trauma in its wake.

0:50.0

No one thought he would run.

0:52.0

The next thing I know, I get a phone call, where's Rufo?

0:58.0

And now, more than two decades later, the mystery has yet to be solved.

1:04.0

Where and who is John Rufo?

1:09.0

I'm Sunny Haasen with ABC News.

1:11.0

Over the past year, a team from the ABC News Investigative Unit joined the search for John Rufo, following the US Marshals as they uncovered surprising new leads.

1:21.0

In a global manhunt.

1:24.0

So I get a call in the middle of the night, and she's like, I know where John is.

1:29.0

From behind-home plate at Dodger Stadium.

1:32.0

So we're able to track that exact seat location to the Adriatic Coast.

1:37.0

Keep in mind, $13 million gets you a long way.

1:41.0

The US Marshals are trying to solve one of the most stubborn, fugitive cases in American history.

1:46.0

Now, they may be closer than ever.

1:51.0

From ABC News, this is Have You Seen This Man.

...

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