Former NFL Wide Receiver- Broncos & Giants- Starts Prison Sentence August 30 -Mortgage Fraud Scheme

Former Georgia and NFL player Arthur James Marshall Jr. was sentenced to 69 months in prison for bank fraud related to an elaborate mortgage fraud scheme and was also ordered to pay more than $3.6 million restitution to his victims.

It was reported in 2009 there was an execution of a search warrant by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Marshall's former office building. He was a local high school football star who later played at the University of Georgia and thereafter spent five years in the National Football League. He was then charged in a twenty-two-count indictment with fraud and money laundering in his real estate ventures.

“I didn’t intend for them to get hurt, but they did and that’s my fault. I will do everything in my power to make this right. And I will,” he said.

Marshall played five years in the NFL from 1991 to 1996 as a wide receiver with the Denver Broncos and New York Giants. He played at the University of Georgia from 1988 to 1991. He had 87 receptions, 1,267 yards and four touchdowns in his career.

The evidence presented at sentencing revealed that Marshall falsified sales contracts, personal finance records and other documents as part of his mortgage fraud scheme. The victims of Marshall's scheme included banks, a family who never got a property title from Marshall after paying him $100,000 for a home, and members of the American Legion.

It also says an unnamed couple paid Marshall $100,000 in 2008 to build them a house. Prosecutors say Marshall did little construction work on the home and refused to transfer the title for the property to the buyers.

This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the inter-agency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.

The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

United States Attorney Edward J. Tarver stated, "Mortgage fraud poses a significant threat to our nation's financial system. This prosecution demonstrates the ongoing response of the United States Attorney's Office to protecting the integrity of the financial system of this nation. Relying on the joint efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement, this office will aggressively prosecute those who defraud financial institutions and other victims of mortgage fraud."

Mr. Tarver praised the efforts of the FBI in bringing this criminal activity to light. Assistant United States Attorney David Stewart prosecuted the case for the United States.

Marshall will begin his federal prison sentence on August 30.

We must be vigilant against fraud, recognizing its signs and taking proactive, definite, and realistic steps to not only prevent it but also punish it.

It starts with me.
It starts with you.
It starts with us…

You are all encouraged to report any suspected mortgage fraud activity to authorities. For more information, visit StopFraud.gov.

Michael S. Richardson
Author of "An American Epidemic, Mortgage Fraud a Serious Business"

Follow me on Twitter @ FocusonFraud