SEC v. John C. Maccoll (ponzi schemes, 2018)

Settled

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In August 2018 the SEC sued Michigan broker John Maccoll over an alleged theft of nearly $4 million from at least 15 retail customers. On 28 November 2018 the Eastern District of Michigan entered a consent judgment enjoining him, and on 3 December 2018 the SEC barred him from the securities industry and penny stock offerings by consent.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

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Disgorgement

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Prejudgment interest

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Total relief

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Alleged gain

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A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

the Securities and Exchange Commission announced this matter on August 9, 2018 as release LR-24230. The respondents named are John C. Maccoll (1 individual, 0 entities).

This library tags the matter as ponzi schemes, based on the conduct the regulator describes. Each tag links to a page explaining how that technique works, what statute it engages, and what penalties comparable actions have attracted. The tagging is ours, not the regulator's: agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The release references a parallel criminal proceeding. Where a criminal case exists, the civil and criminal outcomes are recorded separately, because they resolve on different standards of proof.

An SEC administrative order of December 2018 reports the outcome. On 28 November 2018 the Eastern District of Michigan entered a judgment by consent permanently enjoining Maccoll from antifraud violations. On 3 December 2018 the Commission, acting on his offer of settlement, barred him from association with brokers, dealers and investment advisers and from penny stock offerings. The order gives no disgorgement, interest or penalty figure, and it says nothing about a criminal case, so none is recorded; we did not see the judgment itself.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Ponzi schemes — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2018-08-09 Litigation release published
2. 2018-11-28 Consent judgment entered enjoining Maccoll
3. 2018-12-03 SEC bars Maccoll from the securities industry and penny stock offerings by consent

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• SEC litigation release
• SEC administrative order against Maccoll

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.