FEDS CHASE TOMO (securities fraud slickster absconds, lives high life on yacht)

http://www.nypost.com/business/28261.htm ^ | September 10, 2004 | HOLLY M. SANDERS

[Liz]

Federal authorities have put a bounty on ex-Symbol Technologies CEO Tomo Razmilovic, who fled from securities fraud charges to Sweden earlier this year.

The U.S. government is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

Razmilovic is among "the most wanted" by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which posted a reward notice for the 62-year-old former exec yesterday on its Web site.

The agency, which frequently teams with federal prosecutors to investigate corporate fraud, is working with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York to track him down.

Razmilovic, who is "now believed to be in Sweden," is charged with 13 counts of securities fraud, as well as conspiracy to commit securities fraud, according to the reward poster.

"This is a special circumstance because of the importance placed on the case by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service," said Postal Inspector John McDermott.

Razmilovic and seven other former top Symbol executives were charged with using "every trick in a very long book" to deceive investors and inflate the company's reported earnings by more than $200 million.

He was declared a fugitive in June after his lawyer told prosecutors Razmilovic would not return to the U.S. to face formal charges.

After being declared a fugitive, Razmilovic was spotted vacationing on his yacht in the Adriatic Sea before returning to Sweden, where he took up residence in a remote seaside home.

A native of Croatia and a Swedish citizen, Razmilovic has told reporters that he is innocent and won't return to the U.S. because he doesn't believe he will get a fair trial.

Although warrants have been issued for his arrest here and abroad, Swedish authorities won't move on him until the U.S. government makes a formal request.

[Liz]

The government can ask Swedish authorities to extradite him or prosecute him there, but the process will take months to work its way through legal and diplomatic channels. Sweden's treaty with the U.S. does not mandate that it extradite Swedish nationals. By offering a reward, U.S. authorities may be able to nab him should he ever try to leave the country or return to the U.S.

Crook says he can't get a fair trial? Guess it means he might have to go before an honest judge.

The jerk could go for a pardon if Hitlery ever gets in (gag).

[Moonman62]

He's accused of doing something that the federal government has been doing for decades. It's interesting that the government won't ask the Swedes to pick him up.

[Carolinamom]

Another case for DOG, the bounty hunter.