MARIANNA — Police have arrested a Marianna attorney on charges he collected at least $41,000 while transferring trust funds from multiple estates to their heirs, according to a Marianna Police Department report.
A warrant was served on attorney Thayer Mervin Marts, 79, at his Tallahassee office Monday where he was arrested and charged with grand theft. Marts, who practiced in Marianna and Tallahassee, was arrested following a joint investigation into the misappropriation of multiple estates’ money from a trust account.
Police charged him on the one offense from an estate where about $41,000 dollars was owed to the heirs. However, police believe there are at least 13 other estates that may have been affected by this theft, officials reported.
Marts was transported to the Leon County Jail to await transportation to Jackson County. Police expect additional charges to be filed against Marts in another identified estate misappropriation case.
During the course of their grand theft investigation, authorities learned Marts had been suspended from the practice of law by the Florida Supreme Court while the Florida Bar investigated Marts based on a complaint received earlier in the year. Later investigators learned that Marts will voluntarily surrender his license to practice law.
Anyone having conducted business with Marts and still having an open estate case is urged to contact the Marianna Police Department, officials said.
“Efforts will be made to contact heirs to these other estates, but sadly in a few of these cases there are no heirs on record,” said Police Chief Hayes Baggett.