The check

Hell no. I even went back to look up the check, it was written for First Bank of Gibraltar which is a UK territory, possible back then in the 80's he possibly, very possibly might have been able to fly over there and move some money around and disappear. He would never be able to return to the US with ANY of that money. Idk the truth and fiction to the story and what the "real" guy did irl, but if he didn't leave the US and take off with that money he's an idiot. Back then it was also very easy to disappear somewhere, nowadays you're f'ked with all the camera's and facial recognition software and just the general massive flow of information. Your picture and a $25k reward and your ass is done for.

Probably if you Google the guy you'll find out he's not living or had lived the high life if he remained in the US.

It was not a check. It was a bank statement showing the account balance. It was his half of the 160 million or so they said Acosta took off with.

Plus, assuming he was eventually free to go overseas, he can easily get his mitts on the cash and live in a country where he could not be extradited from.