Whitefish man sent to prison for fraud scheme
A Whitefish man who admitted to defrauding wealthy Whitefish businessman Michael Goguen out of millions of dollars was sentenced to six years in prison on Friday.
Matthew Anthony Marshall, 51, pleaded guilty in Missoula’s U.S. District Court in November 2021 to wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy on March 3 sentenced Marshall to six years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Molloy also ordered Marshall to pay a total of $3,254,327 in restitution, with $2,355,000 to be paid to the victim, and $899,327 to be paid to the IRS. Molloy accepted a plea agreement in the case and dismissed eight other counts.
Marshall was allowed to self-surrender to the Bureau of Prisons.
According to charging documents, Marshall, the former CEO of Amyntor Group, a private security company, perpetuated his alleged scheme between April 20, 2013, and March 21, 2016, when he convinced Goguen, identified as “John Doe” in the court documents, that he was a former CIA agent and former member of an elite unit in the U.S. Marine Corps who had engaged in covert missions around the world.
Documents say Marshall asked “John Doe” to fund “off the books” missions for the CIA. He also reportedly told the victim the missions would involve assault teams he would lead on rescue and other operations in foreign countries.
According to court documents, the victim wired a total of $2.3 million to Marshall, who allegedly used the money for personal living expenses, personal travel, as well as loans and gifts to friends and business associates.
“Marshall promoted a fantasy world filled with fake missions carried out by fictitious operatives for clandestine agencies in faraway lands for phony purposes,” U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said in a press release following the sentencing. “It was all fake, but unfortunately it was paid for with real money from a real victim. And the money never went anywhere except to Marshall’s personal accounts.
“The lengths to which Marshall went to carry off this fraud can hardly be overstated. He used a phone application to send fake text messages; he created false emails; he sent the victim prayer beads collected during a fake mission; and he got a tattoo to falsely signify that he was a member of ‘Force Recon,’ etc. The list goes on.”
Special Agent in Charge Dennis Rice of the Salt Lake City FBI called Marshall a “fraudster and manipulator” consumed by greed.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy J. Racicot and Ryan G. Weldon and Trial Attorney S. Derek Shugert, National Security Division, U.S. Department of Justice, prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the IRS Criminal Investigation and FBI.
Meanwhile, Marshall and some of his business associates are plaintiffs in a pending lawsuit against Goguen in District Court. The civil suit seeks more than $300 million in damages.
Marshall claims in the lawsuit that Goguen induced him to leave his position at the U.S. State Department for a job with Two Bear Security, and based on a promise by Goguen to fund a private security contracting business (which Marshall named Amyntor), to be built on Marshall's personal network and expertise, until it became profitable.