Money / Samuel Israel Girlfriend of Fugitive Fund Chief Charged Police say she helped him fake his own suicide and escape By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Jun 19, 2008 6:21 PM CDT Copied In this April 14, 2008, file photo, Bayou Group hedge-fund founder Samuel Israel III, right, arrives at the U.S Courthouse in New York. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File) The girlfriend of a hedge fund swindler whose car was found abandoned in New York has been charged with helping him elude his sentence. Police arrested Debra Ryan today and accused her of aiding and abetting the escape of Samuel Israel III, who bilked investors out of $450 million. He failed to report to prison, and police say he left his car by a bridge and faked his own suicide. (More Samuel Israel stories.) Report an error