Hunt for Dodgers fan seen on TV in 2016 as police say he may be wanted fugitive

The man seen on TV during the LA Dodgers game was convicted 23 years ago of swindling a bank

(US Marshals)

US Marshals believe a Los Angeles Dodgers fan seen on TV in 2016 during a game could be a fugitive who swindled a bank of $353mn 23 years ago and are asking the public for help in identifying him.

John Ruffo has been in hiding since 1998 and was convicted in Virginia of a $353mn bank fraud. He fled in 1998.

In 2016, during a Dodgers game, a man resembling Ruffo appeared on TV. This could be either him or a look-alike. But the police said that they would like to know who the man was.

Police believe that Ruffo is living under a new identity.

The ongoing hunt for the figurative is also the subject of season 2 of the ABC News podcast, “Have You Seen This Man.”

Calls for public help in finding Ruffo have been stepped up. Deputy Marshal Danielle Shimchick, the lead investigator on the Ruffo case, said: “The ones that are the worst are when you have no resolution. That’s what bothers me, is that you just don’t know, is that him or not? The Dodgers footage, is that him? Is that Ruffo? Or is it not?

Ruffo is short and balding, police say, and he is now 66 years old.

He is believed to have fled with approximately $13mn. It was reported that since 1998, there have been no confirmed sightings of Ruffo. His car was found at New York’s JFK airport.

Carmine Pascale, Ruffo’s cousin, was watching the Dodgers-Red Sox game on television on 5 August 2016, when he claims that he saw a familiar-looking man. He said: “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.’”

The cousin claimed that he immediately called the Marshals. “I froze the frame, kept it right in front of me.”

By then, Ruffo was on the US Marshals’ “15 Most Wanted” list.

John Ruffo has been in hiding since 1998 and was convicted in Virginia of $353 million bank fraud. Screengrab (connerlayson2010/YouTube)

“It does look like him. It could be him,” LA-based deputy Pat Valdenor said. “So that was my starting point. That was the lead that I got.”

He said the resemblance was “strong.”

Mr Valdenor called up Dodgers and sought their help. They helped him identify the seat in Dodger stadium. He also found out who bought the ticket.

But the ticket holder had given away his ticket, so tracking the man became a difficult task.

“It does get frustrating,” Mr Valdenor said. “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.”

The lead investigators on the Ruffo case now believe that the public’s help could be crucial.

On Wednesday, as the Dodgers head into the National League Wild Card game, they will release a photo of the man.

Meanwhile, a four-part Hulu Original limited series on the global search for Ruffo is currently in production from ABC News Longform, ABC News said.