Plane crash plotter returned to face Indiana charges

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. | A money manager who tried to fake his own death in a Florida plane crash has been returned to Indiana to face felony charges stemming from his financial dealings.

Hamilton County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Vicky Dunbar said U.S. marshals delivered 38-year-old Marcus Schrenker, formerly of Merrillville, to the county jail in Noblesville on Monday afternoon.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Jeff Wehmueller said Schrenker likely will appear in court today for an initial hearing on charges of fraudulent sale of securities.

A federal judge in Pensacola, Fla., last month sentenced the suburban Indianapolis man to four years in prison on charges related to the Jan. 11 plane crash.

Indiana prosecutors said Schrenker sold clients a nonexistent foreign currency fund, created false account information and used their money for personal expenses.

Schrenker's single-engine Piper Malibu crashed in Milton, Fla., after he bailed out over Alabama and left the plane to drift on autopilot. He had planned for it to land in the Gulf of Mexico, but it ran out of fuel.

Schrenker and his financial services businesses came under investigation by the Indiana Securities Division in December. Investigators later obtained a freeze on Schrenker's personal and business assets to recover as much money as possible for victims. His assets remain in receivership.