(Bloomberg News) Martin Frankel's 17-year prison sentence for looting $209 million from seven U.S. insurance companies was upheld by the federal appeals court in Manhattan.

The court today rejected Frankel's claims that U.S. District Judge Ellen Burns in New Haven, Connecticut, made several errors in sentencing him to 200 months in prison, three years of supervised release and $204.2 million in restitution.

Frankel, 56, pleaded guilty in May 2002 to 24 counts of fraud and racketeering, admitting he bought the insurers between 1991 and 1999 and drained their assets, spending the money on diamonds, women and expensive cars.

Frankel fled his $3 million Greenwich, Connecticut, mansion in May 1999 with the authorities closing in. Four months later, he was arrested in a hotel in Germany and extradited to the U.S.

Frankel is serving his sentence in a federal prison in Fort Dix, New Jersey. His projected release date is in September 2015, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons website.

The case is U.S. v. Frankel, 06-1752-CR, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Manhattan).