Gary Atnip, a Tennessee accountant who allegedly helped funnel $18 million to financier Martin Frankel in an insurance fraud scheme, pleaded guilty in Tennessee Court to state charges of computer fraud.
According to the Associated Press, Atnip served as chief financial officer of various insurance companies acquired by Frankel from 1991 to 1999, including the Tennessee-based Franklin American Life Insurance Co.
He told Williamson County Circuit Court Judge Russ Heldman that he committed computer fraud in November 1991 by transferring the money from Franklin American Life to a securities company. According to court documents, Frankel subsequently placed the funds into a personal Swiss bank account, according to court documents.
Atnip’s guilty plea comes on the heels of his admission of guilt in an Arkansas court to a felony charge of violating the maintenance of home office records law in that state. He had not been previously charged in Tennessee but accepted a plea agreement with prosecutors. Sentencing is expected to occur in early May.
He also admitted to the Tennessee court to helping Frankel file false documents with the state’s Department of Commerce and Insurance in order to hide the source of the funds used to purchase Franklin American Life.
Frankel pleaded guilty in May to stealing $200 million from insurance companies in Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee. He is currently serving time in federal prison.
Atnip faces additional court hearings in Mississippi and a federal sentencing hearing in April.
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