Indiana Resident Charged With Conducting Ponzi Scheme Targeting Retirement Savings of Investors

Defendant Marcum allegedly touted himself as a successful day trader and asset manager to raise more than $6 million through promissory notes issued by his company Guaranty Reserves Trust. The alleged scheme involved helping investors set up self-directed IRA accounts to gain control over their retirement assets, with the (promoted) expectation that he would earn them strong returns on the promissory notes by day-trading in stocks while guaranteeing the safety of their principal investment. However, he allegedly did little trading and generally lost money when he did, and instead used investor funds to pay for his luxurious personal lifestyle and finance several start-up companies. He also allegedly provided investors with false account statements. This case was still pending at the time of this writing/summary.