The following is a list of 10 very wealthy men who have committed crimes, all of which required them to be bailed out of prison.
- Billionaire Raj Rajaratnam was convicted on 14 counts of conspiracy and security fraud. He was sentenced to 11 years in a state penitentiary after facing a $100 million bail. His bail also required it be backed by $20 million in cash and property.
- Roman Polanski, a Hollywood director, spent 31 years living as a fugitive abroad after admitting to having sex with a 13 year old girl from California. After jumping from country to country, Polanski was eventually arrested in Switzerland.
- Marcus Schrenker, a hotshot millionaire being tried for fraudulent transactions, hopped into his private jet and headed southeast. In order to skip bail Schrenker then faked a distress call, setting his jet on auto pilot and parachuted into a swap. He then stopped at a hotel where he later ran into the woods, picking up his motorcycle from a storage center. He was later stopped by Florida police.
- Christopher Skase evaded charges of embezzlement with a sudden flight to Spain in 1991.
- Robert Vesco was considered to be a legend among bail jumpers. He was charged in 1972 for misappropriating more than $224 million. He managed to avoid capture after flying to the Bahamas through extradition laws and various disguises. Vesco continued with his schemes, profits, and offending authorities until his death in 2008.
- Marc Rich charged for tax evasion fled to Switzerland in 1983. After many very large campaign donates made my Rich’s wife, an heiress, many speculated a very controversial pardon granted by President Clinton in 2001.
- Norman Y. Hsu accomplished jumping bail all the while becoming a high profile fundraiser for the Democratic Party after pleading “no contest” to charges of fraud. After being charged in 1992, he fled to Hong Kong. When he returned to California years later, he had dropped the middle initial in his name and managed to attract no attention from U.S prosecutors.
