Sounak Sengupta
ID’s ‘Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry? Dreamers and Schemers’ and ABC’s ‘Betrayal: Secrets & Lies: Latter Day Lies’ feature the tale of financial fraudster Shawn Merriman. After all, over a period of 15 years, he swindled nearly a hundred people out of more than $21 million with a Ponzi scheme. According to records, he operated from June 1994 to February 2009 from his Colorado home and defrauded even his congregation, family, relatives, and his mother.
Shawn Merriman Worked to Become Successful at a Young Age
Shawn Richard Merriman was a student at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, in the fall of 1998, when he met his future wife, Andrea. When she met him, he was reportedly a student entrepreneur with his own successful custom home stereo installation company. They were both members of the Mormon Church, and she was really attracted to his intelligence and generosity. She said in the ID original, “Shawn was the first guy I dated who could do all those Hollywood romantic gestures and make them not look cheesy. I thought he was the dream man I had been looking for.”
After six months of dating, Shawn proposed in the spring of 1989, and they married three months later, on August 5, 1989. They packed and moved to Denver, Colorado, in April 1990, where he went on to pursue a Master’s Degree in Business. Andrea recalled, “When we got to Denver, Shawn began his job as an investment banker and realized he did not need an MBA. He worked for three months and made $50,000.” Andrea’s sister, Kim Gordon, stated on the ID show, “Shawn was overly smart on his feet and ambitious. He made sure everybody had more than they wanted.”
Due to his business acumen and sheer confidence, Shawn soon began getting lucrative job offers from rival companies. Soon, he made a lot of money, and his expenditure grew exponentially. Andrea explained how he “brought expensive taste into their marriage.” She added, “I think that in Shawn’s mind, he had missed out on some things in his childhood — whether financial or emotional. And it meant a lot for him to finally have those things he had dreamed of as a child.”
Shawn Merriman Kept His Wife Away From His Business Dealings
In April 1993, Shawn and Andrea had their first child and moved into a custom-made home in a wealthy neighborhood of Aurora, Colorado. Shawn’s hard work paid off as his family reaped the benefits, leading a luxurious life. A college graduate herself with an acumen for business, Andrea initially tried to manage their finances but stepped down upon realizing money was Shawn’s territory. He told Andrea in the fall of 1993 about a big business decision — he had some wealthy clients who wanted him to leave his firm and manage their finances in private practice.
Thus, in 1994, Shawn opened his investment firm, Market Street Advisors, working out of his basement, which was off-limits to his family. Andrea stated she was clueless about her husband’s work, except for his exponentially increasing expenditure. All she knew was that he was gradually becoming very successful because it was evidenced by their consistently comfortable, luxurious lifestyle. By 2005, they were proud parents of four children, and he had even taken on the prestigious role of lay bishop in their local church. According to court records, throughout this time, Shawn was persuading friends, family, and his congregation to invest with him, offering lucrative returns.
Shawn Merriman Defrauded Strangers and Loved Ones Alike For 15 Years
According to court records, Shawn’s Ponzi scheme was extensive. He defrauded investors from June 1994 to February 2009 by persuading them to hand over their money through the use of materially false pretenses, representations, and promises. He essentially falsely promised they would get great returns because he would use their money to buy and sell securities at significant profits and then return most of those profits to them. He operated under Mountain Springs Partners, L.P., and the limited liability companies LLC-1, LLC-2, Marque LLC-3, LLC-4, and LLC-5.
Court documents also underscore Shawn’s mail fraud Ponzi scheme — he accepted millions of dollars from more than 100 individuals and entities, using that money for his own benefit rather than trading securities as promised. He misrepresented his economic activities in fraudulent account statements he mailed to his investors. He used money he earned from one investor to meet another’s requests for the return of the invested funds.
According to records, Shawn’s investors believed in him so much that they sometimes handed over funds from family trusts or retirement accounts. When some members of his congregation trusted him with their money, he used it to fund a lavish lifestyle — buying classic cars, a boat, and a 350-piece art collection. Even his mother, Sally Merriman, was one of his victims. Records indicated Shawn stopped trading altogether beginning in about 2004, though he continued to accept funds under fraudulent promises of profit until February 24, 2009.
Shawn Merriman Was Released From Prison in 2020
However, things changed on March 18, 2009, when Shawn suddenly called Andrea, who was out running errands. He confessed to her about his fraudulent activities before turning himself in to the FBI. Andrea recalled, “He said, ‘My company is a sham.’ I said, ‘What? And he repeated, ‘My company is a sham.'” U.S. Marshals and U.S. Postal Inspectors seized his assets on April 8, 2009, and charged him with operating a Ponzi scheme involving mail fraud that defrauded at least 67 investors on August 19, 2009.
Shawn pleaded guilty on December 2, 2009, and was sentenced to serve 151 months in federal prison on September 14, 2010. The court also ordered him to pay $20,124,183.13 in restitution to the victims and to forfeit any interests in all property constituting or derived from the proceeds of his criminal activities. Andrea divorced Shawn not long after his arrest, relocating to Utah with their children to start anew. According to official records, he was released from federal custody on May 8, 2020. He has since chosen to lead a quiet life well away from the limelight, so there is no clear information available on the 63-year-old’s current personal or professional standing.
Read More: Andrea Merriman: Where is Shawn Merriman’s Ex-Wife Now?
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