SEC v. John Scott Clark (2016)

Settled

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 4, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

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In March 2016 the SEC charged John Scott Clark over a new fraud selling supposed secret Iraqi currency and oil contract investments. A consent final judgment filed on May 26, 2016 orders $1,778,500 in disgorgement, jointly with a co-defendant, deemed satisfied by his criminal restitution order.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

—

Disgorgement

$1.8m

Prejudgment interest

—

Total relief

$1.8m

Alleged gain

—

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 complaint, filed March 31, 2016 in the District of Utah, alleges Clark and a partner claimed access to a secret government program, and drew in some investors from his earlier scheme and members of his church. He faces about $1.7 million in criminal restitution.

The release notes that the SEC charged Clark in 2011 over a $47 million Ponzi scheme. That earlier scheme is background; this matter is a different offering, so the ponzi-schemes tag has been removed.

The final judgment as to Clark, filed on May 26, 2016 in the District of Utah, records that he consented to entry of the judgment, waived findings of fact and conclusions of law, and did not need to admit or deny the allegations. It permanently enjoins him from deceptive statements to investors and from selling unregistered securities, and finds him liable for disgorgement of $1,778,500 jointly and severally with Joshua J. Hansen, with payment deemed satisfied by the criminal restitution order in his related criminal case. The copy read states no civil penalty. The criminal sentence of 36 months already recorded on this page comes from the original release. This page relies on the judgment itself, not a regulator release. Checked on 2026-10-04.

Timeline

1. 2016-03-31 Litigation release published
2. 2016-05-26 Final judgment on consent entered

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
• Final judgment as to Clark (May 26, 2016)

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.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.