US authorities on Thursday arrested Debra Ryan, the girlfriend of missing hedge fund manager Samuel Israel, and charged her with aiding and abetting his failure to surrender to serve a 20-year prison sentence for defrauding investors in his hedge fund out of more than $400m.

Ms Ryan admitted that three days before his disappearance last Monday, she met with Mr Israel at an auto repair shop near Bedford, New York, to help him attach a motor scooter to a hydraulic lift on the back of a recreational vehicle. She then admitted that she helped him pack that vehicle with Mr Israel’s belongings.