The swindler of the century was caught

In Hamburg, 44-year-old American Martin Frenkel was arrested, accused of embezzling $3 billion. The world has never known a stranger and more eccentric swindler.

In 1992, Martin Frenkel was deprived of his brokerage license for fraud, after which he came up with a financial theft scheme that the FBI still cannot figure out. His two funds—Liberty National Securities and the St. Francis of Assisi fund—raised about $3 billion that disappeared offshore in the Virgin Islands.
Frenkel himself is, to put it mildly, an odd man. He had two houses in the town of Greenwich, one of which he never entered. In another house, 35 servants and numerous mistresses lived with Frenkel. One of the servants was exclusively engaged in supplying the owner with porn films. Frenkel preferred to eat low-fat pizza with mozzarella cheese, saying that it was impossible to poison him.
When regulatory authorities got on Frenkel’s trail, he fled, burning down the house. In the ashes, the police found his personal horoscope with questions written on it: “Will I go to jail?”, “Will I be safe?”, “Will I succeed with the money?” By all accounts, there was virtually no chance of catching the swindler who escaped on a rented plane.
But Frenkel was still discovered. True, not detectives, but employees of the Hamburg Hotel Prem, where the fraudster stayed, and even then by accident. Frenkel presented a British passport in someone else's name, the authenticity of which aroused suspicion. The police were called and forced their way into the room, opening the door with a spare key. Need I add that Frenkel was not alone in the room? However, if the court proves his guilt, he will lose the joy of communicating with women for 25 years.

IVAN KOZLOV

Magazine "Kommersant Money" No. 36 dated September 15, 1999, p. 27