Story and photos by Ron Klopfanstein
Virginia Keith was the president of the Town of Brookfield Historical Society from 2012-2014. That was when she first heard about the “Marshall Fund.”
Minutes from the historical society’s board of trustees meeting state, “Burton Marshall informed us about an interest bearing fund which he manages. For each $1000.00 invested, he will return interest at a rate of 8% per year, $80 annually per thousand. It was remarked that we can do better with a bake sale.”
The Town of Brookfield Historical Society and countless other investors probably wish they had stuck earning money through bake sales. New York State Attorney General Letitia James has opened an investigation into the tax preparation and insurance fund owned by Marshall.
“My question was what backs it up?” says Keith, who is no longer on the board of trustees with the historical society. “I looked at the paperwork and it was nothing more than a simple receipt, like something you would tear out of a receipt book from a ‘five and dime store.’”
Keith contacted a couple of attorneys who told her that the “fund” the organization, and many other groups and individuals invested in, was nothing more than a promissory note. The Securities and Exchange Commission forbids insurance brokers from selling securities under the U.S. Investment Advisors Act of 1940. This law prohibits money managers, investment consultants, and financial planners from selling such “funds.”
“Some of us knew immediately,” Keith recalls, “these are unsecured loans. What if a piano falls on this guy’s head, and he dies? We’re going to have to get in line behind people who have [given Marshall] legitimate loans, such as bankers with mortgages.”
Keith quickly found that I found out that Marshall owned several dozen properties in Madison County. Like many others in the area, she wondered if those properties enabled him to make good on the promise of an 8% return rate…until he couldn’t.
Keith wasn’t the only one who raised red flags to no avail. “One of the group members said, ‘this is nothing but a Ponzi scheme,” she told me. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
I went to Mr. Marshall’s business and spoke to an employee who declined comment. I also stopped at Mr. Marshall’s home and asked if I could interview him. He also told me he had no comment and that I should direct questions to his attorney. Attorney General James, however, has set up an email account for people with complaints about this fund. It is MBMarshall.complaint@ag.ny.gov
I am interested in talking to anyone who has information or has invested with the “Marshall fund.” I will be updating this story on the Utica Phoenix digital platform (UticaPhoenix.net) and my Twitter and Facebook pages (Twitter.com/RonKlopfanstein and Facebook.com/
