Frankel Sentenced To Three Years in Germany

Martin Frankel was sentenced to three years Wednesday by a German judge for evading taxes on diamond imports.

“This was an exceptional case,” Judge Marc Tully was reported as saying in his sentencing of Frankel.

The rogue financier was also fined $1.5 million to cover unpaid tax and duty on 550 diamonds worth $8 million. Frankel imported the diamonds to Germany via Italy while on the lam from U.S. officials. He was also accused of possessing nine passports when arrested in Hamburg last year after the world-wide manhunt.

In the U.S., Frankel, 45, faces 36 counts of fraud. U.S. officials have been seeking to extradite him to answer charges that he pilfered at least $200 million from small insurance firms in several states.

“Since I’ve been in Germany I have learned a lot about the German constitution whose main theme is respect for human rights,” Frankel is reported by Reuters as having told the court before his sentencing. “If Germany extradited me to the United States, it would break the principles of its own constitution.”

According to the Reuters report, the highest state court said extradition is permissible and would normally be expected to go ahead half way through his sentence. Frankel has already been in jail for 10 months in Germany and is expected to challenge any extradition attempts in the court.

Topics USA Germany