Final arrest made in Coffee County securities fraud case

The fourth person charged in a multimillion-dollar securities fraud case will be returned to Coffee County Court to face charges.

Twelfth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Gary McAliley said Wednesday that Scott Allen Frye, 41, was arrested in the Philippines by federal authorities. He is one of four people charged, and the last to be arrested, in connection with fraud cases that occurred between July 2000 and March 2005 in Alabama, Indiana, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Frye is charged in connection with the offer and sale of securities, sale of unregistered securities and the sale of securities by an unregistered dealer involving $3.7 million through the sale of investment contracts, promissory notes and shares of common stock, according to the Alabama Securities Commission.

McAliley said Frye and co-defendants Michael A. Von Kanel, Teresa H. Von Kanel and Douglas D. Handley led their victims to believe money from the investments was being used for real estate development in Nassau, Bahamas.

Michael Von Kanel had been a John Hancock life insurance agent who administered employee retirement plans for Century 21, a real estate brokerage firm with offices throughout the southeastern United States, until his indictment on the security fraud charges in November 2005. Five real estate agents at the Enterprise Century 21 office had participated in the retirement plan Von Kanel presented, McAliley said. According to the subsequent investigation, Von Kanel had forged the local real estate firm owner's signature on John Hancock loan disbursement forms totalling $139,500. The John Hancock Insurance Company repaid the six Enterprise people for their losses, McAliley said.

The Von Kanels and Handley, Michael Von Kanel's father-in-law, were arrested in December 2005 in Hoover and later transported to Coffee County. Their indictment was the result of a joint investigation with the Alabama Securities Commission.

Handley assisted federal security exchange officials with their investigation in 2005 and based upon that agreement, charges against him were dismissed. Both Von Kanels pled guilty and are in prison. Frye had eluded authorities until his arrest Tuesday. Violations of the Alabama Securities Act are Class C felonies, punishable by not less than 10 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000. Frye remains in federal custody awaiting extradition to Alabama, according information from the Alabama Securities Commission.

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