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HomeUSACaliforniaUS man fails Bond-esque underwater escape from FBI using 'sea scooter'

US man fails Bond-esque underwater escape from FBI using ‘sea scooter’

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Daily US Times: It was a filmy move we used to see in James Bond movies and real life military operations around the world, but in the end, a suspected US fraudster proved he was no James Bond. The man used a sea scooter to hide from FBI.

The 44-year-old Matthew Piercey of California accused of financial crimes, briefly evaded justice when the FBI tried to arrest him on Monday morning.

Mr Piercey first fled by car and then used a sea scooter to hide from the FBI agents underwater in a frigid lake.

But the FBI agents watched his bubbles on the surface of the lake for around 25 minutes before he emerged and was handcuffed.

He is accused of leading a $35m Ponzi scheme at his local church.

Sea scooter is an underwater device that can pull a person wearing scuba gear. The device is also known as diver propulsion vehicles. It was used for the underwater battle in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball and have been employed by real-life militaries across the world.

Officials said that when they moved in to arrest the accused man he fled in a pickup truck, twice driving off the road. He was then seen jumping in to the lake with a strange device in his hand.

Police later learned that the model Mr Piercey used, a Yamaha 350Li, can reach speeds of 4mph and can travel 100ft underwater.

Lawyer Josh Kons, who is representing several victims of the alleged fraud, said: “You never know what is going through someone’s mind when they’re being pursued by the FBI.”

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