Former UBS Broker, JOHN MACCOLL Sentenced to 9 Years for $4 Million Embezzlement

JOHN COCHRAN MACCOLL (JOHN MACCOLL) CRD#: 839441, a former UBS financial advisor from Rochester Hills, Michigan, was barred by both FINRA and the SEC from acting as a broker or investment adviser or otherwise associating with firms that sell securities or provide investment advice to the public.  It is alleged McColl embezzled over $3.7 million.
In August, JOHN MACCOLL was charged with stealing nearly $4 million from at least 15 of his clients by the SEC. MacColl pleaded guilty in September to wire fraud and was sentenced to nine years in prison.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, from 2010 to 2018, the former financial advisor persuaded his clients to transfer money for investment products that were not offered by UBS to his own personal account. Then MacColl then allegedly made up false statements to cover his theft according to the court records.
UBS was unaware of MacColl’s actions and terminated him as soon as the firm was made aware of the thefts. Allegedly, MacColl conducted the business over his personal cellphone, according to the investigators. UBS launched an investigation when they became suspicious and alerted police.
A UBS spokesperson said in a statement that even though the actions of JOHN MACCOLL occurred outside the firm’s control, UBS is reimbursing the losses to their affected clients.
According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, JOHN MACCOLL has 23 Disclosures on his report, 17 of those Disclosures are “Customer Disputes” dating back to 1990.  The significance of MacColl’s FINRA Customer Complaints is underscored in FINRA NOTICE to MEMBERS 03-49. In 2003, FINRA conducted a review of the CRD’s of all 663,000 registered representatives, only 2,751 (.41%) had been the subject of (3) or more customer complaints. In other words MacColl’s customer complaints rank him in the top one-hundredth percent of all registered representatives for customer complaints. 
MacColl was registered in the securities industry for 40 years and was listed with 5 firms, the most recent is listed below:
01/13/2006 - 03/23/2018  UBS FINANCIAL SERVICES INC - BIRMINGHAM, MI
If you’ve suffered financial losses due to the actions or recommendations of former UBS FINANCIAL SERVICES INC of Birmingham, Michigan, broker, JOHN MACCOLL, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to a securities lawyer at no cost regarding the possible recovery of your losses through a FINRA arbitration at:  888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group represents our clients nationwide before FINRA on a contingency fee basis—no fee to you if no recovery.