Post by Scumhunter on Sept 17, 2014 8:23:31 GMT -5
Video Link: American Greed: The Fugitives (Lunic is first case of the episode): www.hulu.com/watch/395897
Fugitive Profile as of September 17th, 2014 (based on FBI.gov profile):
Aliases: Dan Lunic, Thomas Markovic, Vladamir Raznatovic, Ivan Vasiljevic, Budimir Zubac
Date(s) of Birth Used: December 21, 1958
Place of Birth: Yugoslavia
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 215 to 220 pounds
Hair: Brown/Gray
Eyes: Blue
Sex: Male
Race: White
Nationality: Serbian
Remarks: Lunic speaks English with an Eastern European accent. He is a licensed pilot and has ties to Las Vegas, Nevada; Southern Florida; the Phoenix/Scottsdale areas of Arizona; Serbia and Switzerland.
Who to call if you've seen him: Local FBI field office or embassy or submit a web tip at tips.fbi.gov
Slobodan Lunic is a white-collar fugitive who was on AMW in 2000 and had a full-feature on the CNBC show American Greed: The Fugitives. The following is a brief description of his alleged crimes from his FBI archive page:
Slobodan Lunic and his partner allegedly orchestrated a huge fraud scheme involving the purchase of pay phones in the Chicago, Illinois area. Approximately 2,200 investors across the United States were defrauded of approximately 43 million dollars. More than half of the investors were elderly victims who lost significant portions of their life savings. After surrendering to authorities, Lunic was scheduled to stand trial on fraud charges on June 21, 1999. On June 19, 1999, Lunic cut off his home electronic monitoring device and is believed to have fled the area. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Lunic on June 23, 1999, in the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, after he was charged with failure to appear for his trial.
A few more notes according to the CNBC profile on Lunic:
-This was in the late 90's when cell phone use hadn't really taken off just yet and there was still a market for payphones. It seemed like a cash cow at the time. In addition many of the victims, mostly elderly as the FBI profile says, were in rural areas that didn't yet have cell service. The victims were recruited at seminars and the scheme was that Lunic's company Paytel, had access to a large amount of pay phones while the purchases would invest for as many as they wanted, Lunic and the others would get a cut. One victim, a senior citizen interviewed on the show purchases three pay phones at about $40,000. Of course, there were more investors than the company had phones.
-The scheme unraveled when a man at the company, Bill Tenura, called the FBI. One of Lunic's partners, Scott Holmberg, hired a man to kidnap Tenura and torture him into telling him everything he knows. Of course it turned out the man was actually with the FBI. For his part in testifying against Lunic, Holmberg received a 5-year sentence while having to sell back a large portion of his assets.
-Lunic's mother put up her two houses to pay for Lunic's bond and he was released on house arrest. This was against the objection of one investigator on the show, since Lunic was a Serbian national who was also a pilot and had passports and connections to many foreign countries.
-Of course Lunic fled. And it's believed he has fled to his native Serbia, a country which has no extradition treaty with the United States. He may be gambling in casinos throughout Europe.
Thoughts? This is similar to John Ruffo in that addition to his con, his own mother lost her house putting up her bond! His mother testified talking about how much he loved his family and his two children and would never leave! The guy has no shame.
Unfortunately, not much hope if he's still in Serbia. But if he's continuing to try to live the high life, as he did in America, and many assume he's doing elsewhere, he may be in Europe gambling in a country that does have an extradition treaty. Hopefully that will be his downfall.
web.archive.org/web/20121202170606/http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/wcc/slobodan-lunic/view
articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-06-24/news/9906240218_1_prosecutors-bond-flight-risk
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