Atnip Pleads Guilty in Mississippi

Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore and Insurance Commissioner George Dale announced that Gary L. Atnip, the former chief financial officer for Martin Frankel, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of issuing false statements with intent to defraud the state.

The charges relate to Atnip’s involvement in a $200 million fraud against three insurance companies domiciled in Mississippi. He entered the guilty plea in Hinds County Circuit Court before Judge Bobby DeLaughter.

Documents filed in the case show that during the 1990s Atnip conspired with Frankel to transfer the cash reserve assets of the three companies into Frankel’s control. The court says Frankel then converted used money to benefit himself, Atnip and others.

Atnip faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and $15,000 in fines in Mississippi. He has previously pled guilty in Arkansas and Tennessee to charges relating to the Frankel scam. Atnip is the fifth defendant to plead guilty in Mississippi to having had a role in the Frankel scam.

Frankel is serving time in prison on federal charges relating to the fraud scheme.