A businessman accused of stealing more than $50 million from hundreds of peopl
e in upstate New York as part of a massive Ponzi scheme pleaded guilty this week to charges stem
ming from the fraud, according to the state attorney general.
Miles “Burt” Marshall faces four to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-d
egree grand larceny, securities fraud and first-degree scheme to def
raud, according to the attorney general’s office, which secured an indictment against him last summer.
Marshall, 74, prepared taxes and sold insurance in the quaint village of Hamilton, near Colgate University. For decades, he also took money for what was sometime
s called the “8% Fund,” which guaranteed that much in annual interest. He took money from neighbors, ch
urches and area organizations, with referrals often coming through word-of-mouth.
Insurance Agent Earned Town’s Trust. But Officials Say He Ran a $95M Ponzi Scheme.
A bankruptcy trustee later determined that Marshall had been using new investment money to pay off previous investors by 2011. He eventually owed a
lmost 1,000 people and organizations about $95 million in principal and interest, according to the trustee.
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Attorney General Letitia James said Marshall also spent his investors’ funds on shopping, vacations and restaurants.
“Miles Burton Marshall scammed his clients out of their life savings and used their hard-earned
money to fuel a classic Ponzi scheme,” James said in a prepared release.
An email seeking comment was sent to Marshall’s attorney.
Marshall is scheduled to be sentenced in Madison County Court on June 11.
“I am shocked and a little upset that he didn’t get more time. I don’t feel justice was serv
ed,” Dennis Sullivan, who was owed about $40,000, wrote in a text after the plea. “He has ruined so many of our lives.”
Marshall had made good on his promises to pay interest and process withdrawals for many y
ears. But he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023 after a hospitalization for a he
art condition and a subsequent run on note holders asking for their money
back. He declared more than $90 million in liabilities and $21.5 million in assets.
