
The Pretender
Martin Frankel and the Lost Millions
Ellen Joan Pollock(Author)
Simon & Schuster International (Publisher)
Published on 20. May 2002
Book
Other book format
287 pages
978-0-7432-0415-6 (ISBN)
Description
A respected Wall Street Journal senior writer tells how Martin Frankel fooled the financial world and led the Feds on one of the most publicised manhunts in history. It's a story with all the makings of a television drama: a reclusive financial whiz bilks insurance companies out of 200 million dollars, attracts a harem of young women, outsmarts a posse of bumbling federal agents in a chase across Europe, and leads some ver famous people down the garden path. Yet it's all part of the very real life of Martine Frankel. The Pretender chronicles how a nerdy 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. While Frankel's stolen millions allowed him to easily transform himself from mama's boy to corporate mogul, his attempts to go 'global' proved more challenging.
Nevertheless, his creation of a phony Catholic charity drew the attention of priests with close Vatican ties and a new group of mysterious business partners, until increasing paranoia caused Frankel to vanish from his Greenwich estate, beginning a bizarre chase across Europe that would climax in a German hotel room.
Nevertheless, his creation of a phony Catholic charity drew the attention of priests with close Vatican ties and a new group of mysterious business partners, until increasing paranoia caused Frankel to vanish from his Greenwich estate, beginning a bizarre chase across Europe that would climax in a German hotel room.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Simon & Schuster Ltd
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
16pp b/w halftones
Dimensions
Height: 236 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
568 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7432-0415-6 (9780743204156)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Ellen Pollock
The Pretender
How Martin Frankel Fooled the Financial World and Led the Feds on One of the Most Publicized Manhunts in History
E-Book
05/2002
1st Edition
Free Press
€13.84
Available for download
Person
Ellen Joan Pollock is a senior special writer of Page One features at The Wall Street Journal, where she has worked for ten years. She is the author of Turks and Brahmins and lives in New York.