Financial advisor sentenced for embezzlement

A former Birmingham-based financial advisor, who pled guilty last year to embezzling over $3.7 million from his clients at UBS Financial Services, was sentenced on Tuesday, February 12, to nine years in prison.

John Maccoll, 65, of Rochester Hills, pled guilty in September to wire fraud in relation to the theft of money from his clients at the Birmingham-based UBS office.

Maccoll advised some of his clients at UBS to wire transfer money or write checks to his personal accounts in order to take advantage of investment vehicles which he claimed were not available through UBS, according to the plea agreement. Subsequently, Maccoll would falsely tell the clients who sent money to his personal accounts that the funds they “invested” were performing well and that they should send more money. Instead of investing the funds, Maccoll converted them for his personal use.

More than a dozen individuals who sought advice from Maccoll became victims, with losses totaling more than $3.7 million from April 2010 to March 2018, said U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider.

“Let this sentence be a deterrent to anyone who tries to take advantage of those who seek to invest their hard earned money for their retirement,” Schneider said. “Our office is committed to vigorously prosecute these types of economic crimes because of their damaging effect on our society.”

The case was investigated by the FBI's Detroit Metro Identity Theft and Financial Crimes Task Force, with assistance from Birmingham police. The case was prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Abed Hammond with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan.