Trail Date Set In Lawsuit Over Looted Insurers

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — More than a decade after it was filed, a federal judge in Mississippi has set a tentative trial date in a lawsuit over scams run by financier Martin Frankel, who looted $200 million from insurance companies.

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Frankel founded a charity that claimed to have Vatican connections to further his scheme. Mississippi filed suit in 2001 over his dealings. Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kansas joined the lawsuit.

In 2002, the Vatican was added as a defendant, but claims against the church were dropped earlier this month.

The lawsuit is now set for trial in April 2013 for the remaining defendants, including several Frankel associates and a commodities broker.

Frankel fled the country in 1999 and was arrested in Germany. He pleaded guilty to fraud and racketeering in 2002 and is imprisoned.