N.Y. man charged in ‘Eight Percent Fund’ $50M ponzi scheme

For more than 30 years, Miles Burton Marshall was a fixture in central New York’s Madison County—an affable tax preparer, insurance agent, and small-business owner who seemed to have latched on to a sure thing he called his “Eight Percent Fund.”

It was a low-risk, high-return investment plan that promised investors, many of whom were his tax and insurance clients, steady gains, and financial security. Marshall’s pitch was simple: invest in the Eight Percent Fund, and watch your money grow through smart real estate buys and rentals. He claimed his property ventures were so profitable that he could promise an annual return of eight percent—far better than bank interest, and far safer than the stock market.

It was a steady, consistent investment strategy that regularly lived up to his eight percent promises, regardless of market conditions. Though he boasted almost 1,000 investors and claimed a portfolio worth millions, the bottom fell out in 2023 when Marshall filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors, claiming he owed his investors more than $90 million, including more than $50 million in principal. His assets, he testified, were worth less than $22 million.

1,000 investors swindled in ponzi scheme

State prosecutors now say the only thing steady about Marshall’s operation was the deception.
On June 9, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the arrest of the 72-year-old businessman, pulling the cover off what authorities are calling one of the largest and longest-running Ponzi schemes in state history. Marshall is accused of swindling nearly 1,000 investors out of more than $50 million, many of them longtime neighbors and clients.

“For over three decades, Miles Burton Marshall fooled his community into believing he was a trusted businessman,” said Attorney General James. “In reality, he was scamming his clients and neighbors out of their life savings.”

From the outside, Miles Burton Marshall fit the profile of a hometown success story. He owned several businesses across Madison County, including a printing press, a tax preparation firm, and even a maintenance and storage operation. For many in this rural stretch of upstate New York, Marshall was not just a financial advisor—he was a neighbor, a friend, even a mentor.

But according to the sweeping investigation by the Attorney General’s Criminal Enforcement and Financial Crimes Bureau, Marshall was running a classic Ponzi scheme; not investing most of the money and, instead, allegedly funneling new investors’ funds to pay earlier ones. Anything left over was used to support his lifestyle and business.

Investors money spent

Court documents paint a picture of a man living off the illusion he created. Between the early 1990s and 2023, Marshall allegedly spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of investors’ money on personal expenses—plane tickets, online shopping sprees, and indulgences at restaurants, yoga studios, and grocery stores.

To keep the scheme going, Marshall allegedly instructed employees to generate fake “Transaction Summaries,” showing investors false account balances and accrued interest. These phony records lulled clients into a false sense of financial security—and encouraged them to reinvest.

The deception went undetected for decades. But investigators now say that as far back as 2016, Marshall’s liabilities outweighed his assets by more than $40 million. Still, he kept the illusion going for another seven years—until it all collapsed, as Ponzi schemes ultimately do, and he could no longer juggle the numbers.

The 49-count indictment unsealed charges Marshall with 21 counts of grand larceny, multiple counts of securities fraud, and a single count of scheme to defraud. He was arraigned before Madison County Court Judge Rhonda Youngs, pleaded not guilty, and released on his own recognizance. If convicted, he could face 10 to 20 years in prison.

“This arrest once again shows that those who scheme to swindle New Yorkers out of their hard-earned money for their own personal gain will be held accountable,” said New York State Police Superintendent Steven G. James.

The damage, however, is already done for many of Marshall’s victims. They were teachers, retirees, local small-business owners—people who trusted Marshall with their savings, in some cases for decades. Now they are left to sift through account statements that were never real, and retirement plans that may never materialize.

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Doug Bailey is a journalist and freelance writer who lives outside of Boston. He can be reached at [email protected].