The pretender : how Martin Frankel fooled the financial world and led the feds on one of the most publicized manhunts in history / Ellen Joan Pollock.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Pollock, Ellen Joan.

Series:

Wall Street journal book

A Wall Street journal book

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Frankel, Martin.

Embezzlement--United States.

Embezzlement.

United States.

Physical Description:

xi, 276 pages : illustrations, map ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Simon and Schuster, [2002]

Summary:

How could a two-bit investor, too paralyzed with fear to trade stocks, bilk insurance companies out of $200 million? How could a gawky misfit with an obsessive terror of germs induce a harem of attractive young women to feud over him? How could a recluse from Toledo, Ohio, penetrate the circles of political and financial power in Washington, D.C., and New York City without leaving his house? How could a Jewish guy with a passion for S&M sex persuade the Vatican to go into business with him? And how could he do all this without anybody noticing? Now the whole amazing story of how Martin Frankel pulled off one of the greatest financial scams of the century is revealed by The Wall Street Journal's Ellen Joan Pollock, who was a lead writer on the reporting team that broke story after story as Frankel eluded the FBI's four-month international manhunt.

The Pretender chronicles how a bumbling thirty year old used his financial skills to build an intricate Ponzi scheme based on lies and his amazing gift for luring businessmen -- including Democratic power-broker Robert Strauss -- into his web. Frankel's stolen millions allowed him to transform himself easily from mama's boy to corporate mogul. His creation of a phony Catholic charity drew the interest of priests with close Vatican ties as well as a new group of mysterious business partners. But his attempts to go "global" proved more challenging and aroused the suspicions of state regulators. Frantic that his empire was about to unravel, Frankel vanished from his multimillion-dollar Greenwich, Connecticut, mansion, leaving behind a mysterious fire, a dozen or so heartbroken women, and some very confused law-enforcement officials. His bizarre scamper through Europe as a fugitive would ultimately climax in a German hotel room.

Frankel's world was peopled with desperate businessmen, well-heeled con artists, women looking for love, vindictive husbands, diamond merchants, private eyes -- the whole colorful cast of characters that propelled this fast-moving drama. The Pretender is filled with countless revelations from business associates and former loves -- many of whom were interviewed for the first time for this book. What finally makes The Pretender so compelling is that it is a snapshot of a peculiar moment in business history. Just as figures like Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken epitomized the deal-crazed eighties, Martin Frankel is the quintessential criminal of the millionaire-a-minute nineties.

Contents:

Prologue: The Fire 1

Chapter 1 A Real Job 7

Chapter 2 Marty's First Fraud 23

Chapter 3 A Creative Partnership 41

Chapter 4 A Special Trust 58

Chapter 5 Phone Pals 71

Chapter 6 Domestic Bliss 87

Chapter 7 Mounting Pressure 113

Chapter 8 Mr. Corbally and Mr. Strauss 125

Chapter 9 Getting Religion 136

Chapter 10 Enter the Consultants 157

Chapter 11 A Credibility Gap 170

Chapter 12 Unmasked in Greenwich 180

Chapter 13 Trouble 183

Chapter 14 Escape Plans 197

Chapter 15 A Summons to Mississippi 207

Chapter 16 On the Road 220

Chapter 17 Betrayal 243

Epilogue: The Homecoming 249.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 255-265) and index.

ISBN:

0743204158

OCLC:

48249134