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June 18, 2004 Former Symbol Technologies exec. being sought by FBI; rumored to be in Croatia Ken Schachter Former Symbol Technologies executive Tomo Razmilovic, last spotted in his native Croatia, has embarked on the path of a storied group of white-collar fugitives such as Bernie Cornfeld, Marc Rich and Robert Vesco, who dodged U.S. justice on foreign shores. Law enforcement experts said that given Razmilovic's worldliness, language skills and familiarity with Croatia, the FBI may find it has precious few tools to return the former Symbol president and chief executive officer to Long Island for arraignment. "You're dealing with a guy who's sophisticated and has ties to Croatia," said Rob Seiden, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and president of FortressGlobal Investigations Corp., with offices in Great Neck, Manhattan and the United Kingdom. "The only tool the FBI has to rely on is Interpol." Razmilovic, 62, who was indicted in connection with a $230 million financial fraud at the maker of bar code and wireless network systems, also has some cash. Under his employment agreement with Symbol, Razmilovic received a base salary of $1 million per year until his resignation, effective Feb. 14, 2002. Under his separation agreement, Razmilovic received $5 million in March 2002. As the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission ratcheted up their investigations against Symbol, Razmilovic began dumping stock, clearing $7.4 million in May 2001, $16.4 million in February 2002 and $6.8 million in March 2002. Razmilovic had been scheduled to be arraigned on June 10 but failed to appear. His lawyer, David Nachman of Manhattan-based Piper Rudnick, is himself facing possible contempt-of-court sanctions for citing attorney-client privilege in refusing to divulge Razmilovic's whereabouts. "The attorney is in the worst place because he's caught right in the middle," said Seiden. "He might be the one hung high and dry because he's trying to preserve attorney-client privilege." That privilege covers past crimes, but future crimes, such as a defendant taking flight, are not covered. Earlier this month, a report in the Slobodna Dalmacija newspaper, based in Split, Croatia, said Razmilovic was cruising the Adriatic Sea on his yacht and in an interview on his mobile phone said he might return to the United States after a vacation. Robert Nardoza, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said an arrest warrant has been filed with Interpol, the international police agency, in the United Kingdom, where Razmilovic has had an apartment. Assuming Razmilovic does not return on his own initiative, issues of nationality and extradition treaties could well muddy the waters of any official requests for his return. Razmilovic is married to a Swede and took Swedish citizenship in 1971, though it is unclear whether he retained Croatian nationality as well. In any case, Douglas McNabb, senior principal at McNabb Associates in Houston, whose law firm deals exclusively with extradition and federal and military criminal defense, said the absence of an extradition treaty with Croatia would make it "extremely difficult" for the U.S. to pry Razmilovic from that country. Even if extradition were possible, said Seiden, the willingness of Croatian police to cooperate would be an open question. "What efforts they put in is completely up to that agency," he said. "It's completely at the mercy of the locals." Before Razmilovic failed to appear at his arraignment, his lawyer had been seeking to negotiate a list of four countries -- the United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland and Croatia -- to which he would be allowed to travel. Based on that list and the lack of an extradition treaty, McNabb said "there's an 85 percent chance he's in Croatia." Should Razmilovic venture outside Croatia, however, he could be vulnerable. "As soon as he steps foot outside Croatia, he's fair game," Seiden said. "If he goes to London on a business trip, for example, there's a good chance they'll get him. He has to make a tough decision: Does he stay there and become a prisoner in his own country or come back?" Though white-collar cases rarely rate such attention, McNabb said that the federal government sometimes skates on the edge of the law to nab fugitives. He said the Supreme Court, for instance, has ruled that U.S. agents can go into a foreign country and kidnap a suspect, or the FBI can try to lure the target into a third country or international waters. The U.S. government also can simply pressure the host country to cough up the suspect without regard to legalities. "A treaty is a binding contract, but there are other ways the U.S. can get its hands on him," McNabb said. | |