A Whitefish man pleaded guilty in several elaborate fraud instances, including wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. He was sentenced to six years in jail for scamming rich Whitefish businessman Michael Goguen of millions of dollars on Friday.
Officials about Marshall in case
The case of the fraud
Matthew Anthony Marshall, 51, pled guilty to wire fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion in Missoula’s U.S. District Court in November 2021.
He acknowledged scamming a Montana investor of $2.3 million by fraudulently pretending to be a former Force Recon Marine and CIA agent in need of funding to undertake bogus CIA rescue operations in other nations but instead utilized the money for personal advantage, according to U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson.
Law on the conviction of the case
Marshall was sentenced to six years in prison and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy on March 3.
According to Molloy, Marshall was also sentenced to pay $3,254,327 in restitution. Of this amount, around $2,355,000 will go to the victim and $899,327 to the IRS. Molloy agreed to a plea deal and dropped eight additional charges in the case.
Self-surrender and document of the case linked to Marshall
Marshall was permitted to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on his terms, as reported by Daily Inter Lake.
According to filed documents, Marshall is the former CEO of Amyntor Group, a private security firm. He continued his alleged scheme between April 20, 2013, and March 21, 2016. During this time, he persuaded Goguen, referred to in court documents as “John Doe.” He persuaded that he was a former CIA agent and member of an elite unit in the US Marine Corps. They had participated in covert missions globally.
According to court filings, the victim wired Marshall a total of $2.3 million, which he reportedly utilized for personal living costs, personal travel, and loans and presents to friends and business colleagues.
Marshall was described by Salt Lake City FBI Special Agent in Charge Dennis Rice as a “fraudster and manipulator” obsessed with greed. In District Court, Marshall and some of his business colleagues are plaintiffs in a case against Goguen. The civil complaint claims damages of more than $300 million.
Marshall claimed in the complaint that Goguen persuaded him to quit the U.S. State Department for a job with Two Bear Security by promising to support a private security contracting company based on Marshall’s network and experience until it became lucrative.
