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Two men have been indicted by the Denver grand jury for allegedly bilking 60 investors out of millions of dollars through an elaborate Ponzi scheme.

The indicted men are Michael Marshall, 61, and Gregory Russell, 46, who allegedly took in $9.7 million during a two-year period beginning in 2005.

The indictment alleges that the victims invested with Marshall’s company, Uriels Inc., and received only a few months of investment returns before they stopped.

According to the grand jury, the stated business plan of Uriels was to invest in executive real-estate rentals, “fix and flips,” and other financial instruments. Marshall allegedly told investors that the mission of Uriels was to help as many people as possible get “a leg up on life.”

Russell allegedly became a principal in Uriels in June 2005.

Both men, the grand jury alleged, made claims to investors that were false or they failed to disclose previous business failures.

Among the people targeted by Marshall, according to the grand jury, were friends and members of his church, Living Water Unity Church in Arvada. Marshall held promotional events at various hotels in the Denver area, as well as backyard barbecues at his home in Northglenn, according to the grand jury.

During the alleged scam, said the grand jury, Russell promoted his coffee company, Emerald Sierra, as well as claimed that he owned multiple coffee plantations in South America and had many South American assets and connections in the coffee business.

He invited several prospective investors to a large warehouse-type building in Louisville, which contained roasting equipment and large quantities of coffee beans. The prospective investors were told by Russell that he owned the building, the roasting equipment and the coffee beans. Apart from Emerald Sierra’s assets, Russell claimed to have contacts in the coffee business that would allow the company to yield profits of about 600 percent on any investments made by Uriels.

The grand jury said Emerald Sierra became Uriels’ primary investment and was promoted as such by Uriels’ prospective and existing investors.

Of the more than $9.7 million in investor funds received by Uriels, only $3.5 million was actually invested, according to the indictment. Uriels invested roughly $1.8 million of the $3.5 million in Emerald Sierra. Uriels incurred a net loss on its investments and only recouped about $1.2 million of the $3.5 million, according to the grand jury.

The grand jury said Marshall and Russell at no time disclosed while they were promoting the securities that: