Where in the world would you go to disappear?

A former Sherman Oaks investment manager named Bruce Friedman tried France. The feds had been after him in connection with a Ponzi scheme that allegedly bilked investors of more than $200 million. Last year French police arrested Friedman in front of his hotel in Cannes, and in the months since he had been awaiting extradition to the U.S. Then, Friedman died. No word on how or when, according to the LAT. Frankly, the idea of hiding in France doesn't make much sense - it's just too easy to be tracked down. He might have tried Morocco, Brazil, Lebanon, and the Philippines, where it's fairly easy to disappear, according to Simon Black. There's also Venezuela. From Business Insider:

The population of Venezuela is nearly 30 million, with several million living here in Caracas. And like Brazil to the south, Venezuelans have a rich ethnic mix- African, European, indigenous, etc. Almost any westerner can pass as Venezuelan, so white or black, you don't necessarily stick out. Further, Hugo Chavez's brand of National Socialism has created a largely cash society in Venezuela. There are few financial records from which anyone could be tracked, unlike in developed countries up north where constantly using your MasterCard pinpoints your exact location to any government agency paying attention.

Then there's the bit about the extradition treaty. If you saw the Coen brothers 2008 film Burn After Reading [spoiler alert], you may remember George Clooney's character hopping a flight to Venezuela at the end of the movie because the country has no extradition treaty with the United States. This is actually incorrect. There is a US-Venezuela extradition treaty dating back to 1922. However it's riddled with ambiguities and contains an extremely limited list of extraditable offenses (e.g. bigamy... seriously?) Even when the treaty does apply, Hugo Chavez rarely cooperates.

There are nicer places to hide than Caracas, which is dirty, congested, and has a notoriously high murder rate (locals say that's overblown). On the other hand, the scenery is nice, especially outside the city, and the people are friendly. And if you're a single guy, says Black, "there seems to be a beauty pageant every other weekend with no shortage of gorgeous women vying for the title."

By the way, here's my profile of Friedman in Los Angeles magazine a couple of years back.