Upstate New York man pleads guilty to stealing more than $50M in Ponzi scheme

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A businessman accused of stealing more than $50 million from hundreds of people in upstate New York as part of a massive Ponzi scheme pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges stemming from the fraud, according to the state attorney general.

Miles “Burt” Marshall faces four to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree grand larceny, securities fraud and first-degree scheme to defraud, 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 sometimes called the “8% Fund,” which guaranteed that much in annual interest. He took money from neighbors, churches and area organizations, with referrals often coming through word-of-mouth.

A bankruptcy trustee later determined that Marshall had been using new investment money to pay off previous investors by 2011. He eventually owed almost 1,000 people and organizations about $95 million in principal and interest, according to the trustee.

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 served,” 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 years. But he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023 after a hospitalization for a heart 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.