Have You Seen This Man?
TV Show · Documentary · Crime

On a brisk day in November 1998, a doughy balding Brooklyn computer salesman was supposed to report to prison to begin serving a 17-year sentence. He rented a Ford Taurus. Drove to Queens to turn in the ankle monitor he had been wearing. He took $600 out of an ATM. Headed to JFK airport. And vanished. His name was John Ruffo. The crime he had committed was outlandish. Using forged documents and fake corporate seals, he persuaded banks to loan him $350 million. He invented a nonexistent proposition that he called “Project Star” and he used the money to gamble the millions on the stock market, becoming one of Wall Street’s high-rollers. When the FBI caught wind of his swindle, they set up a sting. At his sentencing, prosecutors made an unthinkable mistake. They agreed to let John Ruffo drive himself to prison. What followed was one of the longest and most challenging manhunts in the history of the U.S. Marshals Service. We discover a man whose life was a hall of mirrors. Secret identities, unlikely affiliations, and bogus companies are uncovered. Was he secretly helping an elite unit of FBI spy-hunters lure Soviet scientists to defect? Did he cut a deal with the mob to help him disappear? Was that him, seated behind home plate at Dodger Stadium? We join the chase as the Marshals try and resolve a case that has baffled and bewildered generations of their colleagues, crossing the globe to ask one pressing question: Have you seen this man?

2022 · 41m
Starring Sunny Hostin

Season 1

  • EPISODE 1
    Anatomy of a Con Artist
    In the mid-nineties, John Ruffo, an unexceptional computer salesman from Queens, pulls off one of the largest bank frauds in history: a heist of more than $350 Million.
    41m
  • EPISODE 2
    A Hidden Life of Thieves
    John Ruffo appeared to be living an unremarkable life. But there was another John Ruffo, who was anything but ordinary. His life was a hall of mirrors littered with secret identities, unlikely affiliations, outrageous allegations, and bogus companies.
    39m
  • EPISODE 3
    The Spy Who Scammed Me
    John Ruffo told many outlandish lies: that he was captured in Vietnam, he recovered stolen plutonium, and had seen aliens in Area 51. But is it possible that some of what he said was actually true?
    37m

Related

Cast & Crew

  • Sunny Hostin
    Host

About

Have You Seen This Man?

Documentary

On a brisk day in November 1998, a doughy balding Brooklyn computer salesman was supposed to report to prison to begin serving a 17-year sentence. He rented a Ford Taurus. Drove to Queens to turn in the ankle monitor he had been wearing. He took $600 out of an ATM. Headed to JFK airport. And vanished. His name was John Ruffo. The crime he had committed was outlandish. Using forged documents and fake corporate seals, he persuaded banks to loan him $350 million. He invented a nonexistent proposition that he called “Project Star” and he used the money to gamble the millions on the stock market, becoming one of Wall Street’s high-rollers. When the FBI caught wind of his swindle, they set up a sting. At his sentencing, prosecutors made an unthinkable mistake. They agreed to let John Ruffo drive himself to prison. What followed was one of the longest and most challenging manhunts in the history of the U.S. Marshals Service. We discover a man whose life was a hall of mirrors. Secret identities, unlikely affiliations, and bogus companies are uncovered. Was he secretly helping an elite unit of FBI spy-hunters lure Soviet scientists to defect? Did he cut a deal with the mob to help him disappear? Was that him, seated behind home plate at Dodger Stadium? We join the chase as the Marshals try and resolve a case that has baffled and bewildered generations of their colleagues, crossing the globe to ask one pressing question: Have you seen this man?

Information

Studio
HULUOV
Released
2022
Rated
TV-MA

Languages

Original Audio
English (United Kingdom)
Audio

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Select a country or region

Africa, Middle East, and India

  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Botswana
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Cape Verde
  • Egypt
  • Eswatini
  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • India
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Lebanon
  • Mauritius
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger (English)
  • Oman
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Africa
  • Sri Lanka
  • Tajikistan
  • Turkmenistan
  • Uganda
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Zimbabwe

Asia Pacific

  • Australia
  • Cambodia
  • Fiji
  • 香港 (廣東話–繁體)
  • Indonesia (English)
  • 日本
  • Lao People's Democratic Republic
  • 澳門 (廣東話–繁體)
  • Malaysia (English)
  • Micronesia, Federated States of
  • Mongolia
  • New Zealand
  • Philippines
  • Singapore
  • 대한민국
  • 台灣
  • Thailand
  • Turkmenistan
  • Vietnam

Europe

  • Armenia
  • Österreich
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bulgaria
  • Cyprus
  • Czechia
  • Denmark
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • France (Français)
  • Deutschland
  • Greece
  • Hungary
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  • Italia
  • Latvia
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg (English)
  • Malta
  • Moldova, Republic Of
  • Nederland
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  • Slovenia
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Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Anguilla
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Argentina (Español)
  • Bahamas
  • Belize
  • Bermuda
  • Bolivia (Español)
  • Brasil
  • Virgin Islands, British
  • Cayman Islands
  • Chile (Español)
  • Colombia (Español)
  • Costa Rica (Español)
  • Dominica
  • República Dominicana
  • Ecuador (Español)
  • El Salvador (Español)
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala (Español)
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  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Venezuela (Español)

The United States and Canada

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  • Estados Unidos (Español México)