Ed Martin
Ed Martin grew up in the New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1968 he graduated with a degree in accounting from Southeastern Louisiana College. Following graduation, Martin spent a year with a CPA firm and then was accepted by the Intelligence Division of the IRS. He spent from August 1969 to February 1970, in federal law enforcement training in Washington, DC. Upon returning to New Orleans he joined the DOJ Strike Force team that investigated and tried District Attorney, Jim Garrison and members of the New Orleans Police Department for public bribery.
In 1975, Martin received a promotion with IRS CID and he and his family moved to Austin, Texas, where he later investigated Austin Forex International, a Ponzi scheme headed by Russell Erxleben, and solved the disappearance of Madalyn Murray O’Hair and her family members. Martin instructed Basic Special Agent classes and Advanced Special Agent classes at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Georgia. Martin was a firearms instructor for 20 years and participated in competition tournaments.
In May 1989, Martin joined the Association of Certified Fraud Investigators (ACFE) and has been a member for over 30 years, Martin was the first President of the first Chapter of the Association.
Martin retired from IRS CID in 2001. He was presented with an award by the US Attorney’s Office in Austin and was nominated for the FBI’s Director’s Award. In 2002, Martin received the Law Enforcement Circle of Excellence Award from the Central Texas 100 Club and in June 2002 received the “Service Above Self Award” from the Austin Rotary Clubs for excellence on law enforcement and solving the cold case of the disappearance of Madalyn Murray O’Hair and her children.
Martin has been interviewed on a number of TV crime shows and is included in two books written about the investigation of the disappearance and murder of Madalyn Murray O’Hair and her children.
Since retiring in October 2001, Martin launched Sage Investigations, LLC a Private Investigation and forensic accounting firm where he and his team investigate various financial cases for individuals and attorneys. In 2006, Martin received from the Texas Association of Licensed Investigators (TALI), a Meritorious Service Award for Investigative Excellence. In 2007 Martin tested and received the Texas Board Certified Investigator (TBCI) designation and in 2015 he received the Hudgins-Sallee Award from TALI. In 2015 Martin was also recognized as Fraud Investigator of the Year by Wealth & Financial International Magazine.
Martin has testified in arbitrations (for the Plaintiff), state court (for the Plaintiff and Defense) and Federal court (for the Defense and prosecution). He has been designated by Federal Court as an expert in Ponzi Schemes.
Martin was the TALI Treasurer for five years, an at-large Director, and was elected President of TALI in August 2018. Martin will finish his term as President on July 31, 2020.