Chris Proffitt/Eyewitness News
Pensacola, Fla. - An Indiana financial manager who parachuted from a small plane in a suspected bid to fake his death handled lucrative accounts in several states for years despite repeated accusations that he was bilking investors.
Regulators in at least three states were warned about Marcus Schrenker, in one case as early as 2002. Schrenker is now in a Florida jail.
It took nearly seven years before Indiana launched a criminal investigation of Schrenker. Officials say he deliberately switched his licensing from state to state to create confusion.
"They had all of the evidence there but I don't know why the persisted to allow him to have another license," said Bob Sellers, a former client of Schrenker.
The Indiana Department of Insurance has eight cases against Schrenker alleging, among other things, forgery and misappropriation with more victims coming forward since his arrest. More charges are expected to follow.
Authorities have frozen Schrenker's assets and those of his wife. He also faces nearly $9 million in potential and actual judgments and legal claims. His wife has also filed for divorce
Tabloids have followed his run from personal and financial ruin, like the New York Post - who outed Schrenker's alleged girlfriend, a former employee at the Mount Comfort Airport, where he once kept his planes. Investigators say the couple shared a condominium in Fishers and she was seen with Schrenker on surveillance video from an Anderson airport just days before his ill-fated flight.
A deputy U.S. marshal says Schrenker was moved from a Tallahassee hospital to a county jail in Pensacola Sunday. A sheriff's office spokesman says Schrenker has been placed on special watch.
The 38-year-old man was later found at a Florida campground with a slashed wrist.
(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)
