Former South Bend resident accused of scamming elderly investors

SOUTH BEND, Ind.—Following an FBI investigation into the matter, 61-year-old Sven Eric Marshall has been charged with five counts of mail fraud for allegedly scamming an elderly investor.

According to a press release from the United States Attorney’s office, Marshall owned and operated an investment company by the name of Trust & Advisory Services of Indiana which he allegedly used to defraud clients.

Dating as far back as March 1998, Marshall recruited investors under the premise that they would receive substantial returns on investments, according to court records.

Marshall’s investors were elderly, several of whom were in their 70's and 80's at the time of the alleged crimes. Two of these investors are now deceased.

According to the indictment, by January 2016, Trust & Investment’s fund was almost empty; information that the US Attorney’s Office says Marshall misrepresented to his investors.

Around December of 2017, the indictment alleges that Marshall closed his office without notifying investors or providing a new address, leaving his clients unable to recover their investments or locate him.

“Elder abuse scams, such as the scheme alleged in this case, will be aggressively prosecuted in this district. The elderly are among the most vulnerable of victims. When they place their trust, and in some case their life savings, into the hands of someone who abuses that trust to steal for personal gain, it is incumbent upon law enforcement to take action. Schemes targeting the elderly will never be tolerated,” Thomas L. Kirsch II, United States Attorney, said in a press release.