What compels a man to get up one morning and decide its time to "get out of Dodge?". No doubt, mounting debts could be the answer or an emergency telephone call from his native land informing him that someone near and dear to him is on their death bed. However, in the case, Raman Handa did not leave many clues, as to his disappearance, only speculation. Imagine employees arriving at work (during the busiest time of the year) only to find the doors locked.

The first report is that Raman left for India due to an illness. Then we come to find that he was joined by his son Amit and daughter Nidhi. That left his employees, managers (and even the family dog) to their own device. Enter a "consultant group" who reopened the doors of Alpha Omega to service existing customers and you have all the ingredients for one of the most perplexing stories of the year.

No doubt, the Handa's left millions in inventory in the store safes however, one has to wonder what was not left behind. Did the Handa's have dual citizenship and therefore left the United States knowing that they might never have to "face the music" once they landed on their native soil? Obviously, no one close to the Handa's had a clue as to the Handa's plans for a clandestine departure. They even left the family dog to fend for itself.

They must have had a plan, as they packed seventeen suitcases. It takes me a day to pack just one suitcase so, I would think that they had been packing for at least week.

They left without tying up all the "loose ends". Those "loose ends" could be defined as their employees, their customers and of course, their banking relationships.

Alpha Omega was not a company, which was founded just a few years ago. No, Alpha Omega was an established business and its doors had been opened for 30 years. This begs the question of "what went wrong?". No one packs seventeen bags and boards a plane (with the entire clan), without having given the matter some serious thought as to the consequences of such a extreme action.

Just what are the consequences for the Handa's "knee jerk" getaway? One can speculate that the "great escape" has a financial side to story which will unfold in the coming weeks. We know they had $18 million in debts  according to an attorney, which they had retained just a few weeks ago. This tells us that the Handa's knew the clock was ticking just two weeks ago.

What I find amazing is that Michael O' Hara of the consulting firm Consensus Advisers, which basically took over day-to-day operations of Alpha Omega, was able to negotiate with the Handa's credit facility (Lasalle Business Credit) to reopen the stores and call back 100+ employees. In addition, the credit facility gave the "green light" to keep the stores open and protect their investment - smart idea.

Handa was reported to be in a hospital in India and has told sources he plans to return. Someone has to be asking the following questions:

• Why didn't Raman pick up the telephone and work with his creditors?
• If you're coming back to the United States (one day) then why take Amit and Nidhi?
• Why didn't his son stay behind to help sort the mess?
• If Raman is coming back soon, then why pack seventeen bags of luggage?
• Why leave the United States to get medical care in a third world country?
• Have his assets (if any) been locked up nice and tight to protect his creditors?
• Has any of the creditor's money been wired overseas to India?
• Is all of the inventory accounted for?
• Do the Handa's own any jewelry retail or manufacturing facilities in India?
• What kind of man leaves his employees to fend for themselves?

The Handa's should take a long hard look in the mirror and ask themselves one question. Why leave the greatest country in the world - which gave them the opportunity to build a recognized business, a phenomenal lifestyle and reputation for a country which offered them no such opportunity?

The answer to these questions Raman, is that with every retail business model comes risk, however, people don't just run away from their obligations, they own up to them and work with their credit facilities and employees to fix the problem - not run away from it.