Caught by his tinted windows: 'Dead' banker arrested on $20m fraud charges 18 months after his apparent suicide



Aubrey Lee Price, 47, was arrested on Wednesday after pulled over on a minor traffic violation in Georgia



He had been missing since June 2012 when he had told family that he was going to jump off ferry in Key West, Florida

Wrote 'suicide' note admitting he had forged documents to hide losses

A Florida judge declared Price legally dead a year ago, but the FBI had continued to search for him

A banker who vanished in an apparent suicide in 2012 and was wanted by the FBI in connection with a $20 million wire fraud case has been arrested in Georgia after being pulled over for a minor traffic violation.



Aubrey Lee Price, 47, was arrested after being stopped for a tinted window violation on Interstate 95 by members of the Glynn County Sheriff's Department on Wednesday.



Officers said that it was clear Price was giving them false information during the stop and they were soon able to determine that he was wanted by the FBI.



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Back form the dead: Former bank director Aubrey Lee Price was caught by police on Wednesday, right, after he had been missing since June 2012, when he had told family members he was going to commit suicide

His arrest comes more than a year after a Florida judge had declared Price to be legally dead.



Despite the judge's ruling, the FBI had continued to search for him and had offered a reward of up to $20,000 for his capture.

Price is due to make his initial appearance before a federal judge in Brunswick on Thursday.



He disappeared in June 2012 after sending a rambling letter to his family and acquaintances that investigators took to be a confession.

Raid: Officials believe that Price raised $40million from more than 100 investors in Georgia and Florida through an unregistered investment fund that he managed

Price disappeared in June 2012 after sending a rambling letter to his family and acquaintances that investigators described as a confession

A Florida judge declared him dead a year ago, but the FBI had said it didn't believe Price was dead and continued to search for him.



Prosecutors have said Price had raised roughly $40 million from about 115 investors, mostly in Georgia and Florida, through the sale of membership interests in his investment firm.

Authorities believe Price slipped away with up to $17 million of investors' money.



He has been indicted in federal courts in New York and Georgia, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has filed a complaint against him in federal court in Atlanta.



FBI Special Agent Stephen Emmett said that he didn't know whether Price's wife and children had known that he was still alive.



His family had previously told investigators they believed Price was dead.



Price left his home in south Georgia on June 16, 2012, telling his family he was headed to Guatemala for business, authorities have said.



Two days later, Price's family and acquaintances received letters saying he was going to Key West to board a ferry headed to Fort Meyers and planned to jump off somewhere along the way to end his life.



‘My depression and discouragement have driven me to deep anxiety, fear and shame. I am emotionally overwhelmed and incapable of continuing in this life,’ said a rambling confession letter investigators believe was written by Price.

Web: Price allegedly forged bank documents to hide the millions of loses his investors suffered, so that they would continue giving him money

‘I created false statements, covered up my losses and deceived and hurt the very people I was trying to help,’ the letter said.



Credit card records showed he purchased dive weights and a ferry ticket.



The ferry ticket was scanned at the boarding point, and security camera footage released by the FBI about six weeks after his disappearance showed Price at the Key West, Fla., airport and ferry terminal on the day he disappeared.



Price owned real estate in Venezuela and had told people he frequently went there and to Guatemala.



The FBI said in February that investigators had accounted for all the vehicles Price owned, except for a 17-foot fiberglass boat. The agency said at the time that it was possible Price had used the boat to flee and may still be using it.

Search: The FBI continued to believe that Price was alive and had offered $20,000 for information that could lead to his capture

Price became director of Montgomery Bank & Trust in Ailey, Ga., in December 2010, when a company he controlled bought a controlling portion of the bank's stock, according to a complaint filed in June 2012 in federal court in New York.



Price then opened brokerage accounts through a securities clearing and custodial firm in New York and told bank managers he would invest in U.S. Treasury securities.



Instead of investing the bank's money, authorities say Price wired the funds into accounts he controlled at other financial institutions and provided bank managers with fraudulent documents.

