A former Merrill Lynch broker in Chicago pleaded guilty to wire fraud on Friday, admitting he stole more than $3 million from multiple clients to fund his lavish lifestyle that included luxury hotel stays and expensive meals.
Marcus Boggs, 51, who spent his entire 12-year brokerage career with Merrill Lynch, entered the plea during a virtual hearing before U.S. District Judge Mary M. Rowland in the Northern District of Illinois. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years for wire fraud, according to the agreement when he is sentenced June 11.
The former broker admitted to defrauding at least eight clients out of $3 million between 2008 and 2018 by using the funds to pay for “international travel, expensive meals at restaurants, rents at multiple apartments, and the mortgage on his personal residence,” according to the court agreement. His attorney David Weinstein of Hinshaw & Culbertson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Boggs led a jet-setter’s lifestyle, records show, vacationing in luxury hotels in Europe, South America, Canada and the Caribbean. He managed more than $40 million in assets for more than 70 clients while a Merrill Lynch broker, according to court documents.
Federal prosecutors first pressed criminal charges against Boggs in August 2019, when he was arrested at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago trying to board an international flight to Germany on a one-way ticket.
They accused Boggs of making at least 200 wire transfers to his American Express account from multiple client accounts between 2016 and 2018.
Merrill Lynch issued a statement that said the firm fired Boggs, promptly notified authorities and cooperated with federal and regulatory investigations. The broker-dealer also said it had compensated all of Boggs aggrieved clients to the tune of $7.5 million in settlements.
Merrill Lynch was not named in the criminal complaint against Boggs, the firm said.
The firm terminated Boggs in December, 2018 for “conduct including withdrawal of funds from client accounts without their knowledge or approval,” according to his BrokerCheck record.
He was permanently barred from the industry by the Securities and Exchange Commission in February, 2020. The broker-dealer moved quickly after the first complaint was filed by a customer in November, 2018 who alleged there were more than a million dollars in unauthorized transfers made to Bogg’s American Express account from the customer's Merrill Lynch portfolio.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority followed suit, barring Boggs from the industry in January of 2019 for failing to respond to requests for information after his termination.
Boggs’ victims included Shainne Sharp, who received $5 million in a 2014 settlement after being wrongfully convicted of murder and turned to Boggs to manage the money according to the complaint.
Sharp said he hired Boggs to ensure that he had “enough funds to sustain him for the rest of his life.” Instead, Boggs was accused of stealing about $815,000 from the client’s accounts to pay his mortgage and credit card bills.