had ordered Berkman to transfer as many of his assets as possible out of Hong Kong, where the government was trying to seize them. Oz and Berkman retrenched to Jerusalem—a temporary setback, Le Roux assured them. He was planning a future iteration of the business with new call centers, new pharmacies, new doctors. But his communication became increasingly sporadic. Periodically, Oz wrote to Le Roux to ask about severance payments for former employees in Israel. As the company wound down, Le Roux had wired part of the money, which was owed under Israeli law, and promised that the rest would come later.

And then, in September 2012, Le Roux seemed to disappear entirely. Rumors swirled that he had gone underground because authorities had intercepted one of his boats, carrying arms or drugs. Shai Reuven, who was still running Le Roux's business in Manila, would say only that the boss had gone quiet. The transfers from Hong Kong and the other accounts became increasingly spo- radic. “We knew something had happened,” Oz said.

In March 2013, Le Roux reappeared with orders for Oz and Berkman to further cut the staff in Israel, and to stop filling orders and paying doctors and pharmacists by the end of the year. The company would relaunch again soon, he now said, with a new of- fice in Eastern Europe and a different model. “Please advice what is the status with the severance payments,” Oz wrote back. “You asked me to split it to three, but the people didn't get their second payment and the keep calling me, please let me know what to tell them.”

Oz still felt responsible to the Israeli employees who were owed money, some of whom were friends, and none of whom had heard of Paul Le Roux. To them, Oz was the boss. “He was getting phone calls from employees saying, ‘You shut down the company, you disappeared, you have to pay us, by law,’ ” a friend of Oz's said.

In late December, Oz and Berkman stumbled onto an article in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reporting that Le Roux had been arrested. The story, by a reporter who had been tipped off to the Brazilian end of the investigation, was published in Por-