Judge orders Schrenker to pay restitution, fines

INDIANAPOLIS | An Indiana money manager accused of trying to fake his death in a plane crash to flee mounting legal and financial woes has taken another hit.

An administrative law judge has ordered Marcus Schrenker to pay $304,000 in restitution to bilked investors and $280,000 in state fines for violating state insurance rules.

The judge's order, made last week and announced Monday, comes two months after a daylong hearing during which he heard testimony from investors who said they lost hundreds of thousands of dollars through annuity investments handled by Schrenker, 38.

Judge Doug Webber, who revoked Schrenker's Indiana insurance license a day after that hearing, had been weighing state officials' request for fines and restitution since the hearing.

Nick Mann, the Indiana Department of Insurance's chief of investigations, said in a statement that he was satisfied with Webber's order. He added that he's "pleased that victims in this case were awarded substantial restitution."

Mann had sought $270,000 in fines against Schrenker and $320,000 in restitution against Schrenker on behalf of the investors.

According to Webber's order, Schrenker can seek a hearing to challenge his order, which seeks restitution involving four investors and 28 violations of Indiana's insurance code, with fines of $10,000 for each instance.

Messages were left Monday with two of those investors seeking comment about the order.

They and other investors have said that Schrenker cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses by forging documents, charging exorbitant fees and other fraudulent practices.

Before Webber's ruling, Schrenker already faced millions in judgments and potential penalties. Those ranged from an insurance company's lawsuit seeking $1.4 million in commissions to a judge's order that he pay $12 million in a lawsuit over the sale of a plane.

Schrenker was arrested in a Florida campground on Jan. 13, two days after officials say he put his plane on autopilot and bailed out over Alabama to flee personal and financial problems.

The plane crashed about 200 miles away in Florida, where he faces federal charges stemming from the crash near a residential area.

Last week, Schrenker underwent a mental evaluation to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. He is being held at a Tallahassee, Fla., correctional facility.