I laughed out loud when I read this:

"In 2006, a federal jury indicted Jacob (Kobi) Alexander, an Israeli-American business wunderkind, on charges of wire and securities fraud. Mr. Alexander and his family flew to Namibia, which has no extradition treaty with the United States.

The fugitive more or less tried to buy Namibia. He sponsored scholarships and built low-income solar-powered buildings, and he lived in a spectacular home in Windhoek. "

But now I'm wondering if, from a utilitarian perspective, the world would have been better with him in jail. It sounds like he improved living conditions in Namibia.

> But now I'm wondering if, from a utilitarian perspective, the world would have been better with him in jail.

No - he corrupted politicians. That is how it works in most African countries - give a lot of money to politicians in exchange for protection from any legal problems.

This regularly happens in the country to its south and in Zimbabwe (e.g. John Bredenkamp).

If the system is already broken, and someone taking advantage of it is making things better, I say let him take advantage of it.

Do you really believe that he would "make things better"? He probably greased a lot of palms to ensure that he is not extradited to the US.

He will continue greasing palms (with stolen money) and start again with his corruption. There are numerous examples of this being the case.

A good example is Jurgen Harksen. He was on the run from German authorities and decided to hid in South Africa. He quickly started on the corruption bandwagon again and formed close "relationships" with various politicians.

A leopard does not magically change its spots.

This post from Tim Ferris is amazing and outlines some ways to prepare to be a fugitive: http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/03/03/how-to-be-ja...

Does anyone know of a fugitive from justice being apprehended solely on the basis of the involvement of facebook?

I really don't see how facebook has made it any harder to find a place to hide.

The point is you'd have to give up Facebook in order to flee. Some people can't give it up, so they sit and wait for their trial. Even in prison they can still be in contact with friends and family, which many people would prefer to a life on the run.

Anyone who'd choose prison over giving up Facebook doesn't need to be in prison, they need to in a mental ward; they have serious issues.

I can see what you're getting at, although I find it deeply depressing, but that isn't how I read the article.

The case of Jacob (Kobi) Alexander would also suggest it can be made to work.

The facebook reference is pretty off. These guys are not the facebook types I believe. But someone like Madoff would have been found by the law or those he conned.

Are you sure?

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bernard-Madoff/45015537510

He is the kind of guy who might have USED facebook, but he would never be CONSTRAINED by it. He's demonstrated through his actions that he doesn't care about the social consequences of his actions. Although he does appear to have tried to protect his family from legal problems, and it appears to be working: it is unclear to me why there haven't been RICO charges against everyone tangentially involved, which seemed like an obvious next step to me the day after case broke four months ago.