New York Attorney General Letitia James charges insurance agent with running $50 million Ponzi scheme

An upstate New York tax preparer and insurance agent this week was arrested and charged by New York’s Attorney General for allegedly running a decades-long Ponzi scheme that stole more than $50 million from close to 1,000 investors.

The agent, Miles Burton Marshall, was based in Hamilton, and solicited unsuspecting clients to invest millions of dollars into his so-called “Eight Percent Fund,” claiming that their funds would be primarily used for real property investments, according to a statement Monday by Attorney General Letitia James. 

Instead, Marshall allegedly used funds to pay investment returns to prior investors, as well as to pay his personal expenses and the expenses of his other businesses.

Marshall could not be reached Wednesday to comment. An employee reached at his former tax and insurance agency said that he had sold the business and did not have a current phone number.

The investigation revealed that by 2016, Marshall’s total liabilities exceeded his assets by over $40 million. He continued to solicit new investors and represent to prior investors that their investments were profitable for the next seven years. 

Marshall was a well-known businessperson in Hamilton, according to one attorney familiar with the case. The town is about 40 miles southeast of Syracuse.

“This case is pretty remarkable,” said Scott Silver, a plaintiff’s attorney representing several clients in upstate New York who invested with Marshall. “He was the local tax preparer in a small town in upstate New York, the proverbial big fish in a small pond.”

“Marshall claimed he had a real estate business that was collecting rentals but he was always in the red,” Silver said. “This was a very old school Ponzi scheme. He was a one man wrecking crew in this town.”  

“Lots of blue collar workers live in these smaller towns,” Silver added. “The major financial institutions stay away and so these type of unregistered sales agents work there.”

James filed an indictment with 49 counts against Marshall on Monday, the same day he was arrested. The Attorney General’s office has been investigating Marshall since March 2023. A month later, he declared bankruptcy.

“Beginning in the early 1990s and continuing through March 2023, Marshall solicited potential investors, including his tax and insurance clients, to invest tens of millions of dollars into his so-called ‘Eight Percent Fund,’” according to the Attorney General’s office.

“Marshall allegedly told investors that their funds would be primarily used to purchase property, refurbish rental houses, and pay expenses for rental properties,” according to the Attorney General’s office. “When soliciting investments, he falsely represented the profitability of his real estate business, claiming it was so profitable that he could promise investors eight percent yearly returns.”

“After soliciting investments, Marshall allegedly used investors’ money to pay investment returns to prior investors, and finance operating expenses for his other businesses, including tax preparation, printing press, maintenance, and storage unit businesses,” according to the Attorney General’s office. “In addition to business expenses, [the Attorney General] alleges Marshall used hundreds of thousands of investors’ dollars for personal expenditures, including travel purchases at American Airlines, Priceline, and United Airlines, at retail and online stores, such as Amazon, Lululemon, and Target, and at grocery stores, restaurants, and yoga studios.”