Defrauded States Recover More Frankel Assets

January 16, 2008 at 11:21 AM
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The Internal Revenue Service is about to pay states $72 million it raised by seizing and, in some cases selling, assets once owned by convicted embezzler and former insurance company owner Martin Frankel.

The U.S. District Court in Hartford recently ordered the IRS turn to sale proceeds and related assets over to receivers in 5 states in which Frankel once owned insurance companies.

Frankel fled from the United States in 1999 and was apprehended in Germany in 2000. In 2002, he was convicted of fleecing the 7 insurance companies he had controlled out of more than $200 million.

Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee will split the seized assets.

Creditors will get most of the funds the IRS is paying out, according to regulators in the states expecting to get the IRS asset payments.

Frankel case receivers have recovered a total of about $126 million, the Mississippi Insurance Department reports.

The IRS raised some of the money it is about to pay the Frankel case states by selling jewels, 2 houses in Connecticut and 21 automobiles once owned by Frankel.

The houses fetched $5.2 million, and the automobiles and a Harley Davidson motorcycle sold for $752,000, IRS officials say.

The IRS also obtained some cash by seizing bank accounts, officials say.

The Arkansas Department of Insurance says it expects to get $1.3 million from the current round of payments.

The Oklahoma department says it expects to collect about $3.8 million.

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