Chad Smanjak — Author of
GOD’S FUGITIVE
A Memoir of Fraud, Flight, and the Mercy That Found Me
Educated meets Catch Me If You Can, with the spiritual core of When Breath Becomes Air.
From the Manuscript
From the manuscript
“The morning the FBI came for me, I was already gone.”
Pull quote — The Raid
Chapter 11 — Randburg
“I picked up the pen. I wrote a name that was not mine.”
Pull quote — Randburg
Pretoria — January 2012
“I am with you.”
Pull quote — The Cell
Pre-order now
The book is coming.
A federal-grade fraud architect.
Two years as a fugitive.
Three suicide attempts.
One ICE officer.
Three crosses.
The true story Chad Smanjak shouldn’t be alive to tell.
A True Story
GOD’S
FUGITIVE
A Memoir of Fraud, Flight,
and the Mercy That Found Me
“The morning the FBI came for me,
I was already gone.”
Chad Smanjak
A Memoir — Forthcoming
The true story of a fraud architect who ran from the FBI across two continents — and what found him when he stopped running.
Between 2007 and 2010, Chad Smanjak built a federal-grade securities-fraud operation that ran across four continents and thirty-one offshore entities. The morning the FBI came for him in 2010, he wasn’t home. He ran.
He fled the United States on his own passport. He spent nearly two years as a fugitive in South Africa under his cousin’s identity. He tried to take his own life three times — once on a Manhattan rooftop before he fled, once on the rocks above the Indian Ocean at Ballito, and once in his Ballito hideaway. He was found by something he couldn’t explain.
He came back. He cooperated. He pleaded to one of the eleven counts he’d been indicted on. He served his time. He walked out of a federal facility on a decision that had nothing to do with the law.
Educated meets Catch Me If You Can, with the spiritual core of When Breath Becomes Air.
@GODSFUGITIVE
Reserve your copy.
Launch news, event dates, and one excerpt per month. No spam.
GOD’S FUGITIVE
a memoir by Chad Smanjak
Chad Smanjak is a former federal fugitive and the author of God’s Fugitive.
Between 2007 and 2010 he built a multinational securities-fraud operation that moved through thirty-one Panamanian shell entities, accounts in the Cook Islands and Cyprus, and a network that touched four continents.
When the FBI raided his Long Beach home in 2010, he fled the United States on his own passport. He spent nearly two years as a fugitive in South Africa, living under his cousin’s identity. He tried to take his own life three times — once on a Manhattan rooftop before he fled, once on the rocks above the Indian Ocean at Ballito, and once in his Ballito hideaway.
The original federal indictment ran to eleven counts — ten of wire fraud and one of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He came back voluntarily. He cooperated fully. He pleaded guilty in the Central District of California to a single count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, served his sentence at Taft Correctional Institution, and was released in November 2017.
The six-year fight to remain in the United States that followed resolved in November 2023. That story belongs to a second book.
He writes about what it cost. What he learned. And what found him when he stopped running.
He lives in California, where his daughter Dior lives.
Six conversations he can lead
Available for podcasts, panels, and live conversations.
- — Inside the architecture of federal fraud
- — What it takes to run, and what it costs
- — The night I stopped pretending I was in control
- — What happens to a man when grace breaks through
- — Fatherhood after the version of yourself you used to be
- — The question every fugitive eventually asks
To book Chad for a conversation, use the contact form.
God’s Fugitive is forthcoming. Chad Smanjak is available for print interviews, podcasts, on-camera conversations, and on-the-record reporting. Selected coverage will be posted here as it lands. For media inquiries, see Contact.
Press Kit
Media Kit
Author bio, key quotes, comparable titles, and contact details for press, speaking, and adaptation inquiries. PDF, 4 pages.
Download PDF
Speaking
Speaker One Sheet
Chad’s speaking topics, audience fit, and booking details — ready to share with event coordinators and podcast producers.
Download PDF
Pre-Order
Pre-Order Card
A shareable one-pager for booksellers, events, and launch partners — everything needed to spread the word before publication.
Download PDFSelected coverage
Coverage will appear here as it lands.
Press & Media
For interviews, podcasts, and on-camera conversations — expect a reply within 48 hours.
Speaking & Adaptation
For keynotes, podcasts, pulpits, and limited-series / feature inquiries.