In 1990, the insurer was taken over by fraudsters who paid for the company with a check for $4 million, although they did not actually have $4 million. Then, using a variation on a simple check-kiting scheme, they lent themselves the money to cover the purchase price. Weiss became involved in the fraud in 1992 through an attorney, Michael Blutrich, who later admitted to the fraud and became a federal witness. After taking control, Weiss and others bought worthless stocks and mortgages in a series of deals that drained the insurer of hundreds of millions of dollars. Much of the money vanished, and millions went into accounts controlled by Weiss.