Uncuffed

An older story, a chance to catch up, and a tale of redemption. Also, 7 other things worth your time.

Almost 20 years ago, John Rusnak's life spiraled out of control. He’s the first to admit now that it was 100% his fault.

Rusnak was a currency trader at what was then called Allfirst Bank, part of Allied Irish Banks. To cut to the chase: he lost $750 million of AIB's money.

Rather than own up to it, resign, and take the hits, Rusnak hid the losses, and even tried to make up the difference.

It didn't work. The FBI caught him. He went to federal prison for more than five years.

I first talked with Rusnak, post-prison, after some former colleagues had given him a job, and he was overseeing a group of dry cleaning outlets in Maryland and Virginia. What caught my eye then was that he was making it a priority to hire other ex-convicts, along with recovering drug addicts.

I wrote about him in 2014, and came across my article for Inc. recently. Time flies, I thought. So, we caught up again on Thursday.

Rusnak said he’s out of the dry cleaning business now, and making a living running three rest…