Vanished pilot faced fraud allegations-WEB ONLY

A Fishers insurance-and-securities broker was facing mounting legal and regulatory woes before he disappeared following a plane crash yesterday in Florida.

Police were searching today for Marcus Schrenker, 38, who claimed in an emergency call that the windshield of the plane he was flying had shattered. Police say Schrenker, the only passenger, then apparently parachuted out of his small plane, leaving it on auto pilot until it crashed.

Investigators said the plane’s wreckage showed no signs of an emergency. They say a man using an Indiana driver’s license checked into an Alabama motel after telling police he’d been in a canoe accident, then disappeared before authorities could question him.

Final arguments had been scheduled for next week in a regulatory proceeding the Indiana Department of Insurance’s consumer-protection division filed against Schrenker a year ago. Investigators accused Schrenker of shifting numerous clients from one annuity to another, generating excessive surrender charges. They also accused him of misappropriation of money and other wrongdoing.

In addition, on Dec. 22, Creative Marketing International Corp. sued Schrenker in federal court in Indianapolis, saying he owes more than $1.4 million that the insurer had to reimburse clients because of allegations of wrongdoing against Schrenker.

Records list Schrenker as president of Heritage Wealth Management. His investment-brokerage record shows he has had numerous disputes with customers in recent years.

Police say that as Schrenker flew into Alabama, he reported turbulence and later said the windshield had blown into the aircraft and he was bleeding profusely.

But police officers did not find blood at the crash site and discovered the aircraft’s door was ajar.

Schrenker’s wife, Michelle, filed for divorce Dec. 30, Hamilton County court records show.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.