Home linked to Frankel Case Sold

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner George Dale sold a home seized from a principal in the Martin Frankel financial fraud case and earmarked the proceeds for the companies looted by the former fugitive. According to the Mississippi Insurance Department, John A. Hackney, the former president of the Franklin Insurance Companies, and his wife, Anne V. Hackney, acquired the Guntersville, Ala. home in 1998. In October 2000, John Hackney pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and mail fraud for his involvement in a $200 million fraud against three Mississippi domiciled insurance companies in concert with financier Martin Frankel. Insurance regulators in Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee are seeking more than $600 million in damages from Frankel and his associates on behalf of seven fleeced insurance companies. The department said the Hackneys acquired the house for a “vacation” home, but had been living there since December of 1999, when federal authorities seized their former home in Franklin, Tenn. Located in an upscale resort area on Alabama’s Lake Guntersville, the 3,600 square foot home includes a boat house and other amenities. Dale’s staff discovered that the Guntersville property was acquired with funds looted from the insurance companies, and, in January 2000, filed suit in the Circuit Court of Marshall County, Alabama seeking possession of the home. The property sold for $450,000, and the net proceeds of the sale were shared by the seven companies.