EDMOND J. MARTIN
PRINCIPAL, CHIEF INVESTIGATOR
CERTIFIED FRAUD EXAMINER (CFE), TEXAS CERTIFIED INVESTIGATOR (TCI)
EdMartin@SageInvestigations.com
Ed Martin grew up in the New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1968 he earned his degree in accounting from Southeastern Louisiana College (now the University of Southeastern Louisiana). Following graduation, Ed spent a year with a New Orleans CPA firm and then applied for a position with the Intelligence Division of the IRS. He accepted the job and from August 1969 to February 1970 he trained in federal law enforcement in Washington, DC. After returning to New Orleans, he became part of the DOJ Strike Force team that investigated District Attorney Jim Garrison and the New Orleans Police Department for public bribery by the local pinball industry.
In 1975, Martin and his family moved to Austin, Texas where his career continued. After reaching senior agent status he became lead agent in the investigation and prosecution of income tax evasion cases, money laundering and of multiple fraud investigations.
Martin resigned from the US Treasury Department in 1984 and worked as a Supervising Examiner for the Texas State Securities Board in Austin. This experience allowed Martin to become adept in broader definitions of fraud: Ponzi schemes (John Colgin–1985), oil and gas fraud, and securities fraud.
In 1991, Martin returned to the IRS Criminal Investigation Division as a Special Agent to investigate fraud and money laundering cases. Some of the cases Martin handled during this period included the employee leasing company Ralph Kirkley, Inc. (1996), the advanced fee scheme of William Fourie (1996-1998), the Ponzi schemes of Russell Erxleben (1998-1999), and Brian Stearns (1999-2000). Martin was also lead agent and instrumental in solving the 5-year-old mystery of what happened to Madalyn Murray O’Hair and her two adult children (1997-2000). After the trial of one of the criminals convicted in the O’Hair case, the Austin Chronicle stated: “If not for the methodical investigation of Special Agent Ed Martin and the FBI they (Gary Karr and David Waters) would have gotten away with murder.”
After nearly twenty-six years Martin retired. He was presented with an award for his “Dedication to the Cause of Law Enforcement” by the US Attorney’s Office in Austin and he 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” for the Austin Rotary Clubs.
Since retiring in October 2001, Martin launched a Sage Investigations, LLC, a Private Investigation firm where he investigates various cases including forensic accounting, income tax defense, litigation support, corporate investigations and anything related to following money, including fraud and embezzlement and Ponzi schemes. In 2002, Martin joined the Texas Association of Licensed Investigators (TALI), and later in 2006 TALI awarded Martin a Meritorious Service Award for Investigative Excellence. In 2007 Martin tested and received the Texas Certified Investigator (TCI) designation from TALI.
In 2006, Martin founded Cynic, Inc. and launched DIO, proprietary software for the investigation of complex fraud investigations which takes advantage of data mining technology, document scanning, OCR capabilities, organizational services, and reporting for the legal community.
Sage’s team of former IRS Criminal Investigators, Certified Public Accountants, and Certified Fraud Examiners, are solely committed to providing results that reflect the truth. Sage prepares a plan of action and proceeds to access the records that allow them to analyze financial matters efficiently and effectively in a variety of diverse cases. Their cases have ranged from $500,000 to millions of dollars in revenue. Their expertise has developed over 50 years in the area of fraudulent schemes (Ponzi schemes, vendor fraud, and sophisticated theft schemes), that once the money is traced, the extent of the scheme comes into focus. Sage Investigations provides fraud investigative services to six distinct markets: Tax Attorneys, Business and Corporate Attorneys, Marital Law Attorneys, Estate and Probate Attorneys, and individuals. Within those markets, Sage represents their clients in civil and criminal matters involving fraud, embezzlement, Ponzi schemes, and business disputes that involve following money trails and developing evidence to prove the client’s case on the plaintiff or defense mode.
Wealth & Finance awarded Edmond J. Martin the Fraud Investigator of the Year Award for 2015. Wealth & Finance International is fiercely enthusiastic about recognizing outstanding achievement, game-changing innovation, and stellar performance. All of their awards are carefully tailored to provide detailed and in-depth analysis of the absolute best each market, industry, sector, and region has to offer. Wealth & Finance International takes choosing their winners very seriously with every single one selected purely on merit, meaning that, no matter how big an organization, and regardless of budget, there is no way someone can buy their way to success.
In August 2015, the Texas Association of Licensed Investigators awarded Edmond Martin, Founder of Sage Investigations, LLC the most distinguished, honorable, and noble award that can be presented to a member of Texas Association of Licensed Investigators (TALI) by their peers. This award was established in remembrance of two outstanding deceased TALI members — Virginia Hudgins and David Sallee. The Hudgins-Sallee Award was established in their memory to exemplify the high moral and ethical standards by which a professional licensed private investigator adheres to in his/her services to the Texas Association of Licensed Investigators.
Edmond Martin has been seen in television programs such as City Confidential, Vanished, Forensic Files, American Justice, A&E, BBC, Discovery – Investigation, the documentary Good Riddance, and Murder by the Book all concerning his investigation of the disappearance of Atheist Leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair and her family. He is also prominent in the books "UnGodly The Woman Who Ended School Prayer in America" by Ted Dracos and "America's Most Hated Woman" by Ann Seaman concerning Madalyn Murray O'Hair.