Samuel Israel III was a New York hedge fund manager who founded the Bayou Hedge Fund Group in 1996 and orchestrated one of the largest financial frauds of the early 2000s. After years of falsifying trading records and using a fake accounting firm to hide losses, Israel’s $300 million Ponzi scheme collapsed in 2005 when investors tried to withdraw their money. Facing charges of fraud and conspiracy, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In a bizarre twist, just before reporting to prison in 2008, Israel staged his own death.
