Red motorcycle used in Indiana money manager's plot to fake death goes up for auction
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Looking for an escape vehicle? You could soon own the red motorcycle an Indiana money manager used to speed off into the Gulf Coast wilderness after crashing his plane in a bogus suicide attempt to avoid his legal and marital woes.
It's among several of Marcus Schrenker's prized possessions being sold at auction Saturday in an Indianapolis showroom as authorities seek to recover as much money as they can to pay a portion of the $30 million in claims against him by family and friends he's accused of bilking. Claimants likely will come away disappointed, recovering just pennies on the dollars that they say Schrenker owes them.
Court-appointed receiver Wayne Davis said he has so far has recovered less than $500,000 from the sale of a stunt airplane, automobiles and Schrenker's suburban home. Auction officials expect the auction will bring far less than the $400,000 to $500,000 the items on the block are estimated to be worth.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It hasn't been a good market," Davis said at a news conference called to drum up interest in the auction.
Schrenker is accused of bilking friends, family members and other investors before his marriage, lifestyle and business came crashing down around him at the end of 2008. The amateur daredevil pilot bailed out of his plane over Alabama, parachuted safely and then drove off on his stashed motorcycle before being captured days later at a Florida campground.
He was sentenced last year to four years in federal prison for the January 2009 plane crash, and is awaiting trial for securities fraud in Indiana. A message seeking comment from his attorney wasn't immediately returned Tuesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The gleaming red-and-chrome 2008 Yamaha motorcycle is among the few items expected to fetch a "celebrity or memorabilia premium," as Senior Vice President Tim Boeglin of Key Auctioneers put it. Another might be the $31,000 platinum and diamond ring with a 2.36-carat center diamond and 30 other diamonds worn by Schrenker's estranged wife, Michelle. She filed for divorce in 2008.
Other top items include a tricked-out 2006 powerboat valued at $69,000 new, a baby grand piano and an authentic electronic basketball scoreboard.
Many of items displayed in a former bedroom showroom, around the corner from a used DVD and music store, are quite mundane. They include tools, a log-splitter, a pool table, all-terrain vehicles, a garden tractor — "lots of stuff for the boys," Boeglin said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Some carry an ironic significance. A Halloween sign warns "You should be very, very afraid," which might be construed as belated advice to Schrenker's clients. Another sign says "Monster Party Here," a ghoulish commentary on Schrenker's lifestyle.
They once decorated the Schrenkers' 10,000-square-foot home on Geist Reservoir in an upscale enclave known as "Cocktail Cove" where affluent boaters often socialized. The home sold for $1.15 million last August, said agent Greg Cooper of The Richwine Real Estate Group.
After the mortgage payoff, taxes and the agent's commission, the home sale yielded just $100,000 for creditors, Davis said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The amount of equity was not as much as we would have liked," Davis said.
Boeglin said as many as 1,000 bidders may attend the auction, with perhaps twice as many people attending.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Online: http://bit.ly/czOhnp
(This version CORRECTS spelling of Boeglin in 9th and 14th paragraphs)