The troubled Indiana money manager who tried to fake his own death in a plane crash to avoid financial ruin did so after he'd bilked about $1 million from friends and relatives, authorities said.
The investment scheme has led to 11 felony charges against Marcus Schrenker.
Schrenker's clients didn't know he had sold them a nonexistent foreign currency fund, created false account information and used their money for personal expenses, according to investigators.
Schrenker is being held in Florida, where he was sentenced Wednesday to more than four years in federal prison for the Jan. 11 plane crash where he parachuted out of a plane in the hopes that it would crash in the Gulf of Mexico. But the plane fell short and crashed into the ground in Florida, making it obvious that Schrenker's body wasn't onboard.
He is expected to return to Indiana in the next few weeks to face the other charges.
Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita warned other investors to ask hard questions even if they trust friends or relatives with their money.
