Burt Marshall Ponzi Scheme: Plea, Sentence, Berkshire Bank Lawsuit

Miles Burton “Burt” Marshall, a 74-year-old tax preparer and insurance agent from Hamilton, New York, ran the Burt Marshall Ponzi scheme for more than three decades, defrauding nearly 1,000 investors of tens of millions of dollars through what he marketed as the “Eight Percent Fund.” He pleaded guilty in April 2026 and was sentenced on June 11, 2026, to four to 12 years in state prison.¹ Victims have so far recovered roughly four cents on the dollar through bankruptcy, and a separate civil lawsuit against Berkshire Bank remains pending.

How the Eight Percent Fund Worked

Marshall began soliciting investments in the 1980s and early 1990s, drawing primarily from his existing base of tax and insurance clients in Madison County. He promised an 8 percent annual return and told investors their money would buy and refurbish local rental properties. Investors received promissory notes and periodic “Transaction Summaries” showing account balances and earned interest. Those summaries were fabricated. Marshall directed his staff to generate them to create the illusion the fund was profitable.¹

His pitch relied on trust built over decades. His parents had run a local insurance and realty business, and Marshall cultivated a folksy persona, gifting clients maple syrup and honey and hosting annual client parties.² He named churches, fire companies, and doctors as fellow investors to reassure hesitant clients, and his role as a tax preparer gave him detailed knowledge of what those clients could afford to hand over.³

Individual clients weren’t the only victims. Volunteer fire departments, churches, and the Brookfield Rural Cemetery Association also invested. The cemetery association lost $170,000 that had been set aside for maintenance.⁴

Where the Money Actually Went

Marshall did own more than 100 rental properties in Madison County, but they never generated enough revenue to cover the 8 percent returns he promised.⁴ He admitted in bankruptcy court that he routinely used money from new investors to pay interest and principal withdrawals to earlier ones. A bankruptcy trustee later concluded the business had functionally become a Ponzi scheme by at least 2011.²

Marshall also diverted hundreds of thousands of dollars in investor funds to personal spending. Prosecutors documented airline tickets through American Airlines, United Airlines, and Priceline; retail purchases at Amazon, Lululemon, and Target; and regular outlays at restaurants, grocery stores, and yoga studios. He used investor money to cover operating expenses at his other businesses, including a self-storage operation and a print shop.¹

By 2016, Marshall’s liabilities exceeded his assets by more than $40 million. He kept soliciting new investments for another seven years.⁵

How the Scheme Collapsed

The fund fell apart in April 2023, when Marshall suffered a serious heart condition requiring multiple surgeries that cost roughly $600,000. Word of his health problems set off a rush of withdrawal requests he couldn’t meet.² He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that same month, reporting more than $92 million in debt to 988 investors against roughly $21.5 million in assets.⁴

Total confirmed debt to investors and creditors reached $94.6 million, comprising about $55 million in principal and the rest in owed interest.⁴ Fred Stevens of Klestadt Winters Jureller Southard & Stevens was appointed Chapter 11 Trustee, and a joint plan of liquidation was confirmed by the bankruptcy court in 2024.⁶

The Guilty Plea and Prison Sentence

A Madison County grand jury indicted Marshall on 49 counts, unsealed on June 9, 2025. The charges included 21 counts of grand larceny in the second degree, three counts of grand larceny in the third degree, 24 counts of securities fraud under New York’s Martin Act, and one count of scheme to defraud in the first degree.⁷ Marshall pleaded not guilty at first.²

On April 28, 2026, he changed course and pleaded guilty before Judge Rhonda Youngs to three of the 49 counts: grand larceny in the second degree, securities fraud under the Martin Act, and scheme to defraud in the first degree. The plea agreement called for a sentence of four to 12 years in state prison and required Marshall to enter judgments in favor of his 988 victims.⁸

At sentencing on June 11, 2026, Judge Youngs imposed the agreed term and Marshall signed confessions of judgment totaling more than $85 million in favor of the 988 victims. The judge described the damage as “catastrophic” and told Marshall: “You lied, you cheated, you just left a trail of devastation for future generations. You are a con man at its base.”⁹ Marshall told the court, “I will be remorseful until the day I die.”¹⁰ His defense attorney, Jeffrey Parry, said Marshall would “likely die in prison.”⁴

What Victims Have Recovered

Recovery has been slim. Trustee Fred Stevens oversaw the sale of Marshall’s 107 rental properties and two personal homes in 2024. After mortgage payoffs and administrative costs, the sales netted just $4.1 million. Victims have received approximately four cents on the dollar, with little expectation of meaningful further recovery from the bankruptcy estate.⁴

Prosecutor Andrew Tarkowski described victims who had “lost entire inheritances” and “entire retirement funds” and now needed to work for the rest of their lives just to cover monthly expenses.¹¹ Peter Kazlauskas, a retired firefighter from Munnsville who lost $200,000, said of Marshall: “He was just that type of guy who could talk you into almost anything.”⁴

The Pending Lawsuit Against Berkshire Bank

A civil case against Berkshire Bank remains the main outstanding avenue for additional recovery. An earlier lawsuit brought by investor Mark S. O’Dell was dismissed with prejudice on October 31, 2024, by U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd in the Northern District of New York, who found the complaint failed to plead that the bank had “actual knowledge” of the fraud.¹²

A broader lawsuit was filed in September 2025 in the same federal court. Plan Administrator Fred Stevens, acting as assignee of claims for 369 investor-victims, joined a putative class representing the roughly 1,000 victims. The new complaint alleges that in October 2021, a fraud investigator at NBT Bancorp, Marshall’s former bank, emailed Berkshire Bank’s fraud department to warn: “We believe [Marshall] may be running a Ponzi scheme.” The lawsuit alleges Berkshire Bank failed to act on that warning and instead took steps to keep Marshall as a customer, including providing him with a remote check scanner capable of depositing up to $300,000 in victim funds per day.¹³

The 2025 lawsuit is being pursued by Fox Rothschild, Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway & Wise, and Silver Law Group. As of mid-2026, it remains pending in the Northern District of New York and is seeking class-action certification.¹⁴

1
NY Attorney General. Attorney General James Announces Sentencing of Madison County Tax Preparer
2
Fortune. Miles Burt Marshall Ponzi Scheme Hamilton New York
3
The Colgate Maroon News. A Town Betrayed: Hamilton Businessman Admits to $94.6 Million Ponzi Scheme
4
Syracuse.com. Burt Marshall Sentenced to Prison in Decades-Long Ponzi Scheme
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Utica Observer-Dispatch. Madison County Tax Preparer Pleads Guilty in $50 Million Ponzi Scheme
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Stretto. Plan Supplement for Joint Plan of Liquidation, Case No. 23-60263-PGR
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NY Attorney General. Attorney General James Announces Arrest of Madison County Tax Preparer
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NY Attorney General. Attorney General James Announces Conviction of Madison County Tax Preparer
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Rome Sentinel. Madison County Fraudster Sentenced in Ponzi Scheme Case
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The Colgate Maroon News. Burt Marshall Sentenced to State Prison
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LocalSYR. Miles Burton Marshall Sentenced
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Syracuse.com. Judge Dismisses Lawsuit That Alleged Bank Assisted Burt Marshall Ponzi Scheme
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Syracuse.com. Lawsuit Alleges Berkshire Bank Received Email Warning Burt Marshall Was Running a Ponzi Scheme
14
WKTV. Lawsuit Filed Against Berkshire Bank Over M. Burton Marshall’s Fraud