Tommy Thompson is back in the news again - curious story. I followed his saga when it first came happened as sunken treasure is always an interesting story.
From Associated Press:
Feds: Treasure hunter eluded police with cash, tradecraft
A deep-sea treasure hunter who vanished during a court fight over his $50 million haul of gold bars and coins eluded capture by hiding in a two-room hotel suite under a fake name, paying for everything in cash and keeping a low-profile, authorities said Thursday.
When Tommy Thompson and his longtime companion did leave the Florida hotel room, usually alone and her more than him, they would use a combination of buses, taxis and walking around to shake anyone who might be tailing them.
"That's all part of the whole tradecraft — trying to fly under the radar of law enforcement," said Barry Golden of the U.S. Marshals Service in Miami.
Thompson, 62, was wanted after he failed to appear in an Ohio courtroom in 2012 in a lawsuit about the gold he brought up in 1988 from a 19th-century shipwreck. Two investors who had funded Thompson's dream to find the shipwreck sued, as did some of his crew members, who said they also had been cheated out of their share.
Thompson and his companion, Alison Anteiker, were arrested Tuesday in West Boca Raton and Thompson on Thursday appeared in federal court for a preliminary hearing. They are being held without bond — she on a civil contempt charge, he on a criminal contempt charge. He hasn't been charged with a crime over his handling of proceeds from the gold.
And they had him four years ago:
On Sept. 12, 2008, he was arrested at a Jacksonville, Florida, gas station, carrying nine identification cards — eight of which police said were fake, according to an incident report. He was charged with possession of drugs without a prescription with the intent to sell, holding a fake ID, false personation and resisting an officer without violence. Court records show prosecutors later dropped all the counts, but it's not immediately clear why.
After his disappearance four years later, authorities found more evidence at a Vero Beach mansion he rented between 2006 and 2012, paying the monthly $3,000 rent with cash and putting the utilities in the landlord's name.
Among the clues: A book called "How to Live Your Life Invisible" describing how to get by on a cash-only basis; bank wraps for $10,000; metal pipes that authorities believed were used to store money underground; and 12 active cellphones, each used for specific attorneys or family members.
"Thompson was smart — perhaps one of the smartest fugitives ever sought by the U.S. Marshals, along with almost limitless resources and approximately a 10-year head start," U.S. Marshal Michael Tobin said in a statement.
The story of finding the wreck and the gold's recovery is one worth reading - there was an excellent book: Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea: The History and Discovery of the World's Richest Shipwreck - your library either has it or can get it on loan. Wikipedia has a nice TL;DR version: SS Central America