Financial Advisor Charged for Crashing Airplane

An Indiana man who tried to fake his death in a plane crash had been illegally moving money from the accounts of his clients and forging their signatures for years, according to testimony at a hearing in Indianapolis. Meanwhile in a federal courtroom in Florida, Marcus Schrenker was charged with deliberately crashing his airplane and making a false distress call.

Schrenker parachuted out of his single-engine plane Jan. 12 near Birmingham. The plane crashed in Panhandle Florida.

An Indiana administrative judge has been asked to revoke Schrenker's insurance license and to fine him for mishandling his clients' funds. The hearing was conducted to hear testimony from people who invested with Schrenker.

The allegations are just part of the increasing financial and personal problems that investigators say drove the 38-year-old Schrenker to try to fake his death and then attempt suicide when he botched the fake plane crash. Schrenker was hospitalized for more than a week before appearing in a federal courtroom in Pensacola Thursday.

Psychological Evaluation Ordered

Schrenker pleaded not guilty to the charges, but the judge ordered a psychological evaluation after his attorney suggested that he is not competent.

According to authorities, the following is a timeline of events in the Schrenker case:

January 2008: Early in 2008, investors began complaining to the Indiana Department of Insurance about how Schrenker was handing their accounts. Formal complaints were filed by the agency.

December 30, 2008: Marcus Schrenker's wife Michelle, who worked with him in his businesses, files for divorce.

December 31, 2008: Authorities search Schrenker's home to seek evidence of possible securities violations by his wealth management companies.

January 9, 2009: A federal judge in Maryland issues a $533,500 judgment against Schrenker's Heritage Wealth Management Inc., in favor of another insurance firm that claimed problems with insurance or annuity plans Schrenker sold.

January 10, 2009: Schrenker rents a storage unit in Harpersville, Alabama where he parks a red Yamaha motorcycle. He tells the storage owner he will be back Monday to pick up the motorcycle.

January 11, 2009: Schrenker leaves Anderson, Indiana in his Piper Malibu filing a flight plan to Destin, Florida. Near Huntsville, Alabama he tells air traffic controllers that his windshield has imploded and he is bleeding badly. Schrenker parachuted from the plane near Harpersville and puts it on autopilot. Tracked by military fighter planes, the Piper crashes in a wooded area near Milton, Florida. The military pilots report that the cockpit of the plane was dark and the door of the plane was open.

January 12, 2009: A man wet from the knees down tells police in Childersburg, Alabama that he has been in a canoeing accident. He shows them Schrenker's identification. The police take him to a local motel. When they return, witnesses say he ran into the woods next to the motel. While at the motel, the man looks directly into a video surveillance camera (left). It is Schrenker.

That same night, Schrenker emails a friend and says the fake airplane crash is a "misunderstanding." He apologizes to friends and family and says by the time his friend receives the email, Schrenker will be "gone."

January 13, 2009: The owner of the storage unit tells U.S. Marshals that Schrenker's motorcycle is gone. Using information found in the cockpit of the crashed plane, police begin searching campgrounds in south Alabama and Panhandle Florida.

Sometime during the day, Schrenker takes blood-thinning pills and cuts his wrist. Later that night, police find Schrenker at a campground near Chattahoochee, Florida in a tent. He was bleeding profusely.

Schrenker was arrested and taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. Because of complications caused by the blood-thinners, he was hospitalized for more than a week before appearing in federal court in Pensacola on charges related to the plane crash.

Back in Indiana, Schrenker faces two felony charges of working as an investment adviser without being registered. He also is named in several lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in disputes over his wealth management companies.

See Also:
Jailed Pilot Swiped Money for Years
Attorney: Man Accused of Crashing Plane 'Incompetent'

Earlier Article:
Pilot Fakes Plane Crash Death

Forum:
Discuss The Schrenker Case

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^{Photos: atGeist.com, Police Photo}