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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Inside The Dangerous Underground World Of Bounty Hunters And Bail Bondsmen

Several years ago, Italian photographer Clara Vannucci was hanging out in a bar in TriBeCa, New York when she met a burly, Greek man name Bobby Zouvelos. The two struck up a conversation and Vannucci, who had recently photographed inside the notorious Riker’s Island jail, explained to Zouvelos what she had seen. Zouvelos mentioned that he and his brother George worked at jails too; he was a bail bondsman. Intrigued by the concept— Italy doesn’t have bail bondsmen — Vannucci asked the man to introduce her to his world, a rarely discussed underworld of bail bondsmen, defendants, and bounty hunters. After following George and Bobby Zouvelos for the better part of two years, Vannucci collected the work into a recently released book, titled "Bail Bond." Vannucci shares some of her work with Business Insider here, but you can check out the rest at her website or in the book.Bail bondsmen act as guarantors in the criminal justice system. They are a combination between insurance salesmen, social workers, and private policemen. This is George Zouvelos, a bail bondsman based in Brooklyn. Vannucci was introduced to Zouvelos by his brother Bobby, who she met in a bar. Zouvelos is known as the "Bail Boss." When someone is arrested and can’t afford to pay their bail, Zouvelos offers to pay it in exchange for a fee. This fee is non-refundable even if the defendant does everything right, appears in court, and is found innocent. See the rest of the story at Business Insider


READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.businessinsider.com