Comparing Martin Frankel and Jamie Olis

Outside the media glare of the trial of the Lay-Skilling trial, decade, a true corporate crook — financier Martin Frankelwas re-sentenced yesterday in a post-Booker hearing to 17 years in prison for pulling off one of the biggest insurance frauds in American history.

Frankel was a small-time New York money manager in the early 1990’s who arranged for the acquisition of a group of financially-troubled insurance companies throughout the 1990’s, which he then used to pull off a several hundred million dollar scam.

With investigators closing in on him in May,1999, Frankel bought millions of dollars worth of diamonds, wired money to accounts all over the world, torched any remaining paper trail and fled the country for Germany under a blaze of publicity.

He was apprehended in Germany several months later, spent a year and a half in a German prison, and then was extradicted to the US to face criminal charges here.

The Wall Street Journal’s Ellen Joan Pollock was a lead writer on the reporting team that covered the FBI’s four-month international manhunt for Frankel, and she eventually wrote a good book about the affair called The Pretender (Free Press 2002).

Meanwhile, as Frankel returns to prison to serve the remainder of his 17-year sentence, Jamie Olis — an honest, hard-working, American success story who did what his bosses told him to do in regard to a merely questionable business transaction — continues to await resentencing after his previous 24-year sentence was overturned on appeal.

Comparing the sentences of Frankel and Olis provides a stark example of the injustice involved in the government criminalizing corporate agency costs to assuage public animus after a business meltdown such as Enron.

If the government cannot tell the difference between Martin Frankel and Jamie Olis, then it is highly unlikely that it can tell the difference between Martin Frankel and you or me.

3 thoughts on “Comparing Martin Frankel and Jamie Olis

  1. The Olis case is a horrible injustice and thank you, Tom K. for continuing to talk about it. Individually motivated prosecutors flexed their muscles and caught an innocent man and are punishing him to an extreme degree under the guise of deterrence and with the authority of the poorly considered federal sentencing guidelines that doesnít differentiate between someone pocketing millions and someone who is accused of helping cause a stock drop. As we all know, stock price is a moving target and is affected by numerous factors but the government essentially argues that investors understood the good news but couldnít understand bad news in order to claim that Olis was the cause of a significant stock loss at the same time that the entire industry was struggling with falling stock prices.
    The guideline that is creating the bulk of the Olis sentence can impact almost anyone working in a corporate environment and people need to start waking up to this extreme injustice within our justice system. The only thing the Olis case is deterring here is anyone opposing the DOJ and that is an extremely dangerous road that we are allowing the DOJ to take.
    This has really been a disgusting display of the DOJ’s unchecked power including the pending re-sentencing where the governmentís brief claims that Mr. Olis was repeatedly offered a deal to plead guilty and cooperate against higher ups and as he would not take their offer, ìas common sense would dictateî, that he has therefore revealed himself as the ìtop conspiratorî and should be punished as the leader of the conspiracy. A highly imaginative and ridiculous argument by anyoneís standards except the DOJs, but is the claimed excuse for never prosecuting anyone above Jamie Olis, a mid level tax executive who didnít pocket a dime from this accounting deal and did not think he was guilty.
    Who can afford to fight the government when they have these extreme powers and are willing to bend their own rules and the truth to win? Certainly not Jamie Olis, but somehow, he is doing it anyway. Thank you for being one of the few who will speak up for this honorable and innocent man.

  2. I keep checking back to this article to see if there are any more comments, but there are none. The reason being there is nothing left to comment about after reading the comemnt by FJO, which tells us all ‘What’s it all about”.

  3. The Sad Case of Jamie Olis is about a man who had everything going for him, after working very hard, putting himself through the Law school in Houston,Texas, with his wife Monica beside him. Yes, Jamie Olis has a Law degree. The job of mid level tax executive was his job in Dyagy when he worked on Project Alpha.
    Jamie Olis is a smart and honest man, ask anyone who knows him. He does not believe in stretching the truth. He will stand on what he believes to be the truth. He does not want excuses, he only wants justice and he will wait. Jamie is one man standing alone, while his so called conspirators protect themselves knowing the truth.
    There are many that could come forward with the truth, but look what could happen to their lives. Would you come and face the Houston Enron Power team? He stands alone to face all of them. Will anyone look into this unjust case of Jamie Olis? Even Jamie’s lawyer has his hands tied, matter of speech. Jamie Olis is in Houston holding cell which is dark,cold,and lonely. Why is his resentencing on hold? No one can give a reasonable answer. Once you are found guilty, (does not matter how you got there), you have no rights. Jamie and his lawyer have proof that Jamie Olis is not guilty of stock loss from Project Alpha. Jamie Olis is not hiding anything, he never has and never will.
    This is what I know about this Sad Case of Jamie Olis. I do know Jamie well and I have made it my business to follow up on whats going on with him.
    I wanted to release Jamie Olis’s story to the press, you would not beleive all that he had to face and still facing. I love my brother and I feel sad thinking about what he is going through.
    The Law system that he lived for has disappointed him with no end to their shame. I know that there are still good honest people in Houston, where are they and who will stand up for fair justice. I know Jamie Olis will stand proud of his clean conscience.
    The Question: What’s it all about. ? Money, Power,and Control!
    I have hope,faith and trust in the truth and of God, to yet see Jamie Olis home with his daughter Joey,(2 years old)and Monica.
    My heart is with you all, Shearl

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