SOUTH BEND — Former South Bend attorney Sven Eric Marshall, who pleaded guilty to scamming elderly individuals as part of a Ponzi scheme, was sentenced to over 10 years in prison Tuesday and will be ordered to pay back nearly $2 million in restitution.
Marshall’s sentencing marks the end of the federal case that saw the former attorney and certified public accountant plead guilty to bank fraud, mail fraud and securities fraud in 2019, but wait more than two years to be sentenced while prosecutors combed through boxes of previously undisclosed evidence.
Federal indictments and complaints in multiple civil cases accused Marshall, who invested money on behalf of his clients, of paying back investors with money from other clients in a Ponzi scheme setup. Marshall also embezzled close to $2 million as a part of the scheme and from clients who hired him to administer their wills, funneling money into his private or company accounts.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Jon DeGuilio sentenced Marshall to 121 months in prison and ordered he pay back almost $1.94 million in restitution. In addition to the restitution payments, Marshall will forfeit $1.75 million he made during the course of the dealings to the government.
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Marshall’s investment fraud scheme began unraveling in 2017 when his law license was suspended after he didn’t respond to a grievance made against him with the Indiana Supreme Court.
In late 2018, amid multiple lawsuits claiming he had…
