LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas business owner who pleaded guilty to wire fraud was sentenced Wednesday for soliciting more than $5 million in investments for his business, according to a news release.
Robert Marshall, 43, was sentenced to 34 months in prison and two years of supervised release, the release said.
Marshall operated a Ponzi scheme from January 2014 to April 2015 by fraudulently soliciting money for his digital advertising business, R.B.J. Generational Wealth Management LLC d/b/a Adz on Wheelz, from more than 200 investors, according to court documents.
Marshall created a scheme to defraud victims by falsely claiming that the business owned and operated a fleet of luxury vehicles that could be customized for digital advertising, that it had already received millions of dollars in advertising contracts, that investors would receive a guaranteed weekly royalty payment and that investors could cancel or receive a refund at any time, documents said.
Marshall would use money solicited from new investors to make the “royalty payments” owed to older investors. He also used investor funds for personal expenses and cost victims approximately $3.5 million total, the release said.
“The defendant wined and dined his investors, and he promised annual returns of more than 200% on investments,” U.S. Attorney Jason M. Frierson for the District of Nevada said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to prosecuting individuals who take advantage and defraud others for profit.”
A booking photo of Marshall was not available because the case was in federal court.