Prosecutor says tall tale hangs Schrenker in fraud investigation

The investigation that led state authorities to question how a suburban Indianapolis investment manager was handling his clients' accounts started with one lie.

And had Merrillville native Marcus Schrenker not been a tattletale, an attorney that helped prosecute him wonders how long it would have taken before he got caught.

Schrenker, 39, was sentenced Thursday to serve 10 years in prison on Indiana securities fraud charges. He pleaded guilty last month in Hamilton Superior Court to five felony counts of fraud in connection with his pocketing money his clients thought they were investing in funds he managed.

Hamilton County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Wehmueller said Schrenker, a 1989 Merrillville High School graduate, complained to state securities investigators Dec. 3, 2008, that one of his partners made improper money transfers and misappropriated funds for personal use. Wehmueller said he recalled Schrenker having business dealings with Indy Aero LLC and being part of a syndicate interested in buying an airport in Muncie.

Indy Aero and Indy Jet Holdings LLC provide fuel sales, aircraft maintenance, flight training, aircraft rental and aircraft sales at Mount Comfort Airport in Greenfield, Ind., according to its website. Indy Aero official Pat Robinson couldn't be reached for comment Monday afternoon.

Wehmueller said in mid-December 2008 investigators began looking into Schrenker's complaint and the trail led back to Heritage Wealth Management Inc., one of the companies Schrenker owned. Schrenker also did business under Icon Wealth Management Inc. and Heritage Insurance Services Inc.

An employee reached at Heritage Wealth Management told securities investigators there were transactions being made to strange accounts, but it was Schrenker handling them, Wehmueller said. Wehmueller declined to identify the individual who talked to the Indiana Securities Division.

"He (was) trying to put the blame on someone else or at least try to," Wehmueller said. "Fortunately, the investigators at the secretary of state's office are not so easily thrown off the trail."

On New Year's Eve 2008, investigators executed a search warrant at the Schrenker family's multimillion-dollar home on the Geist Reservoir and removed Marcus Schrenker's documents and other items from the residence. Less than two weeks later, Schrenker departed from Indiana piloting a plane he eventually bailed out of before it crashed, and he attempted to run from authorities. He was caught the day after the initial securities fraud charges were filed against him in Noblesville.

Chadwick Hill, Schrenker's attorney for the criminal case, couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

Representatives from the Indiana Secretary of State's office couldn't be reached Monday because offices were closed for the Columbus Day holiday.

Schrenker continues to be held in a Noblesville jail pending a status hearing today on a divorce from his wife Michelle in Hamilton Superior Court.

"Icon; the name does say it all," Wehmueller said, referring to the name of one of Schrenker's businesses.