Posted on 05/25/2002 8:32:40 AM PDT by LarryLied
RAYMOND, Miss. May 25 — The financier who authorities say ran a multimillion-dollar insurance scam from a two-mansion compound in tony Greenwich, Conn. has pleaded guilty to corruption charges in Mississippi.
Martin Frankel's plea Friday in Hinds County Circuit Court came more than a week after he pleaded guilty to federal charges. He faces up to 150 years in prison on the federal counts, but prosecutors said they would support a lower sentence if he helps recover missing money.
Frankel, 47, is accused of looting insurance companies of more than $200 million. In the Mississippi court on Friday, the former fugitive pleaded guilty to nine counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy and one count of making false statements and representations. He faces up to five years in prison on each of those counts.
Circuit Judge L. Breland Hilburn deferred sentencing for a year as part of a plea agreement with state and federal prosecutors. Frankel has agreed to cooperate with authorities in their criminal investigation as well as in the recovery of assets.
Looking pale and thin, Frankel provided only brief responses to questions posed by Hilburn in the 25-minute hearing. He was represented by a public defender.
Hilburn approved Frankel's return to authorities in Connecticut.
Frankel is accused of gaining control of small insurance companies in Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee and stealing cash from the company reserves. The FBI said he put the money in banks around the world.
He ran the scam from the compound in Greenwich, which he turned into a warren of offices with more than 80 computers and wide-screen televisions tuned to financial news channels.
Authorities said Frankel spent money on private planes, luxury cars, expensive wines and gifts for women.
On May 15, Frankel pleaded guilty to 24 federal corruption charges in New Haven, Conn. His sentencing is set for next year.
To date, prosecutors said, the government has recovered $70 million to $80 million, including $30 million Frankel told authorities was hidden in a Swiss bank account.
The case went public on May 5, 1999, when firefighters went to Frankel's Greenwich estate and found a blazing file cabinet and two fireplaces stuffed with burning documents.
Among the papers, authorities said, was a to-do list with "launder money" listed at No. 1. Also discovered was an astrological chart intended to answer the question, "Will I go to prison?"
Four months later, after an international manhunt, Frankel was captured at a hotel in Hamburg, Germany, with nine fake passports and 547 diamonds.
Insurance regulators from several states are seeking more than $600 million in damages from Frankel in civil cases, and have also sued the Vatican, alleging the church was involved in Frankel's schemes. The Vatican has denied that.
Sounds like our guys in Hinds county may have given him a tour of Parchman prison. For our friends north of the Mason-Dixon, Parchman really is everything you would think bad about a Southern prison. The sodomites would just love to throw a welcome party for someone from "tony Greenwich, Conn."
Now, before the guards jump on me, I make the disclaimer statement that my remarks about Parchman are anecdotal. I've never enjoyed the amenities of the place. A place where a piece of scum would spit in the face of a 70+ year old woman who asked him if he would like a Bible is not a place I care to go. This actually happened to a member of my church doing prison ministry.
If he has a 401K that draws tax free interest and gets free room and board for the next 150 years.....
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