U.S. Identity Thief Busted in Style in European Resort Island of Malta

Jan 09

U.S. Identity Thief Busted in Style in European Resort Island of Malta

If you are an identity theft criminal on the lamb, you may as well skip hiding out in a run down Mexican village and go for someplace a bit more high end. Why not hide out in luxury and style, right? This is exactly what James Sadler, 66 of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, when the authorities were looking for him for bilking a Hilton Head woman out of $100,000. Get this, he was her financial adviser and convinced her to take out a second mortgage in 2006 for $100,000, which he was going to invest in low-risk securities.

Rather than investing her money, he ran off to one of the Europe’s most beautiful destination, the country of Malta. Situated centrally in the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, Malta is an internationally renowned tourist resort that offers sunny weather, expansive beaches, a thriving nightlife and 7,000 years of intriguing history.

The FBI and the Justice Department obtained an international arrest warrant for his arrest. In July 2009, Sadler was arrested by the Maltese police. He was found in possession of a forged British identification card with his picture but in another person’s name, an Irish passport, and a U.S. passport.

And, now Sadler is facing five years in prison. Ahh, those sunny beaches, outdoor cafes and quite European lifestyle most likely seem like a distant memory for Sadler. But this is what always gets us….did he actually think he was going to get away with it?

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