TheIndyChannel.com

ticketnetwork
Indiana News
E-Mail News Alerts
Get breaking news and daily headlines.
Browse all e-mail newsletters
Related To Story

Commissioner: Schrenker Under Investigation Since '07

Alleged Victim Calls Missing Businessman 'Despicable'

POSTED: 2:47 pm EST January 13, 2009
UPDATED: 11:12 pm EST January 13, 2009

An investment manager who had been on the run following an alleged faked death scheme had been on the radar of the Indiana Department of Insurance since 2007.

Insurance Commissioner Jim Atterholt said Tuesday that Marc Schrenker, 38, has victims all over the country who have been caught up in what he described as "churning annuities."

"Not only did he sell them annuities, but he then had them sell them again and transfer them to other insurance companies where he received very large commissions, or surrender charges," Atterholt said. "These folks have been paying hundreds of thousands of dollars needlessly, because he keeps shifting them from one product to another."

Charles Kinney said Schrenker had befriended him as a fellow pilot and convinced him and his extended family in Georgia to invest $900,000 in annuities that Schrenker had recommended.

"I think he's the most despicable human I've ever met," Kinney said in a phone interview. "It's sickening beyond words, because you're taking people's life savings and basically using it for your own good and you're totally screwing them."

Kinney said he had contacted insurance departments in Kentucky and Georgia, but that those states had declined to take the case.

Kinney credited the dogged determination of Lisa Harpenau, an intern in the Indiana office in 2007 and now a department lawyer, with helping him lodge and shepherd a complaint through the system.

"It was a slow process of discovery. At every turn, we kept turning over rocks and they were all bad," Kinney said.

Some insurance companies have rescinded the annuity contracts and returned some of the Kinneys' money, but they have not given back the interest that had been made off the money.

Schrenker is scheduled for a court hearing on Thursday that will be held even if he doesn't appear. An administrative law judge could revoke Schrenker's license and fine him up to $10,000 per charge.
The following are comments from our users. Opinions expressed are neither created nor endorsed by TheIndyChannel.com. By posting your comments you agree to accept our Terms of Use. To report an offensive or otherwise inappropriate comment, click the "Flag" link that appears beneath that comment. Flagging a comment will send it to our editorial staff for review.

Links We Like
Sponsored Content
Don’t ruin your chances of landing that new job by making easy to correct mistakes on your cover letter. More

Don’t believe everything people tell you about home improvement. Check out the top 4 myths and stop throwing away your money. More

The signs of Cancer can sometimes be very subtle. Here's a guide to help you recognize them early. More

Living well with type-1 or type-2 diabetes can be easier than you might think. Use our diabetes resource guide. More

Sponsored Links