Frankel to be sentenced for insurance scheme

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) _ A man who defrauded seven insurance companies in several states -- including Oklahoma -- is going to prison for more than 16 years. <br/><br/>Martin Frankel was sentenced yesterday

Saturday, December 11th 2004, 4:24 pm

By: News On 6

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) _ A man who defrauded seven insurance companies in several states -- including Oklahoma -- is going to prison for more than 16 years.

Martin Frankel was sentenced yesterday in Connecticut.

He was caught in a scheme that defrauded insurance companies in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Missouri and Tennessee out of more than 200 (m) million dollars.

He was caught in Germany in 1999 and has since pleaded guilty to 24 counts of fraud and racketeering.

Frankel bought the insurance companies through a trust set up to hide his involvement because he was barred from securities trading because of a similar scheme he committed years before.

He claimed that he was investing the companies' assets, but instead stole the 200 (m) million dollars to finance a lavish lifestyle.