As a Fugitive, Frankel Flopped

Apparently, having a genius for white-collar crime doesn't mean you're suited for life on the lam. Exactly four months to the day after he fled his Connecticut mansion, his financial empire crumbling, fugitive money manager and astrologist Martin Frankel was captured in Germany. "You got me," Frankel told German police and an FBI agent when they found him in his hotel room shortly before 9 a.m. local time. The amazing thing is that it took this long. For a meticulous man who had constructed what an investigator described as "one of the greatest scams successfully perpetrated in history," Frankel didn't act like someone who had put much thought into avoiding capture. Authorities say he spent several months in Europe as a not-too-bright fugitive, dining out in public and continuing to phone friends and business associates while on the run. Still, until Saturday he had managed to stay just ahead of his pursuers. As Frankel was taken into custody with his companion, an American woman named Cynthia Allison who used the name Susan Kelly, the search for one of the biggest scammers in recent history came to an end.

Extradition is expected to take several months. Meanwhile, government prosecutors will continue working to map the complex series of maneuvers that allowed a failed fund manager, barred from trading by the SEC, to take in millions by managing the assets of small southern insurance companies. Gathering evidence won't be easy: Authorities were first alerted to Frankel's disappearance by firefighters summoned to his $3 million Greenwich home. There they found a burning file cabinet and two fireplaces filled with flaming documents. Frankel's paper trail, which included one note reading "launder money," also included personalized astrological charts answering such questions as: "Will I go to prison?" "Should I leave?" and "Will I be safe?" Default, as Shakespeare might have said, was in his stars.