She Thought She Was Worth $10 Million Dollars, Then Found Out Her Husband Was Living A Double Life
On March 18th, 2009, Andrea (@andrea.merriman) discovered that her husband, Shawn Merriman, was living a double life. That day, she was headed out to run an errand when her phone rang.
Her now ex-husband had called her because he wanted to have a chat with her. So, she turned around and met up with him at their motorhome, which she hated because she thought it was an unnecessary purchase.
When they sat down at the kitchen table, he shattered her world. He told her that his investment company, Market Street Advisors, was a sham from the start.
He revealed that he had been running a $20 million Ponzi scheme the whole time. The day before, he had turned himself in to federal authorities.
He proceeded to tell her that all of their assets were frozen and were scheduled for seizure by the federal government.
He expected to be charged within seven days, sentenced within a month, and taken into custody within six to seven weeks. He would also spend five to seven years in prison.
Everything they had was gone—the house, the cars, their savings, and investments. It would all have to go toward paying restitution to the victims of his crimes.
In addition to running a Ponzi scheme and destroying his family’s lives, he had hired call girls. Before he aired out his crimes, she thought she was worth $10 million, but now, she had nothing.
After he broke the news to her, Andrea fled the motorhome and started crying. She did not know what to do or how she was going to take care of her four children.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
Her oldest son was just a couple of weeks away from turning 16. She also had a 14-year-old daughter, a nine-year-old son, and a three-year-old.
She ended up calling a close friend and decided to withdraw some money from the bank. Andrea was able to withdraw $2,000 to $3,000. This friend had also invested money with her husband, so she was worried about their finances as well.
Her phone started ringing off the hook as a bunch of people tried calling her. The attorney her husband had hired also called her to introduce himself. He warned her not to access any funds or accounts.
The next day, she had a conversation with representatives of the U.S. government. They wanted her to get out of the house for her own safety because these types of situations could become dangerous. But she had nowhere else to go, so leaving wasn’t an option.
They asked her what her plan was for survival, but she didn’t have one because she had been completely blindsided. Later, Andrea and her husband told their kids.
After her husband’s conviction for fraud, she moved to Utah with her kids. Now, three of them have graduated from college, and she lives with her new husband, David. It took a lot of time and effort, but eventually, she was able to rebuild her family’s lives and find happiness again.
More About:True Crime