One of the FBI’s most wanted embezzlers -- shown heavily bearded below -- hid “in plain sight” on the Appalachian trail for more than half a decade, before being recognized by another hiker this spring and busted.
Crooked accountant James Hammes, 53, was better known by the trail moniker “Bismarck” in the Virginia hamlet he called home, than for the corporate life he fled six years ago on fears of imminent arrest.
But, now, the good folks he’s been fooling in Damascus VA also know the woolly *outdoorsman* as a white-collar thief, who made off with millions from his Ohio-based employer Pepsi-Cola.
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Since going on the lam in 2009, Hammes has been a regular feature of the winding 2200-mile Appalachian trail, where, to be sure, many others like him have also sought refuge, but had the good sense to keep a low profile.
“He was a smart man, interesting to talk to. A pleasant personality,” said the innkeeper who often rented the wanted man a room at her rustic bed-and-breakfast. “All of the other people who stayed here liked him.”
In fact, it’s precisely because the photogenic publicity-hound went overboard in socializing with locals and other trail trekkers that got James T. Hammes outed big time this year.
As a result, the gregarious Wisconsin-born criminal sits in a jail cell today, awaiting trial for fraud.
It’s not clear yet what he did with the $9-million dollars he stole.
