A Chicago resident operating as an unregistered investment advisor has been indicted on four counts of federal wire fraud after allegedly running a Ponzi scheme that raised approximately $4 million from at least 28 investors across five states – and left more than $3.6 million of their money gone.
John Sterling Myers, 41, of Chicago, Illinois, operated Sterling Capital and Sterling Capital Management as unregistered investment advisory firms out of a home office in Chicago, according to authorities.
As per a criminal indictment in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Myers defrauded at least three clients – including a husband and wife from Michigan – from approximately October 2022 through November 2025. Each of the four wire fraud counts carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.
The criminal indictment points to four specific wire transmissions that underpin the fraud charges. On or about November 27, 2023, Myers allegedly caused a $100,000 wire transfer from one victim – referred to as Victim A, an individual in Grand Rapids, Michigan – to a bank account Myers controlled.
Also tucked within the indictment were mentions of Myers allegedly sending an email in July 2024 to the same victim; a wire transfer of roughly $180,000 from a second Michigan victim's investment account, which Myers controlled, in September 2024; and an iMessage he allegedly sent to the latter victim's wife regarding her investment.
In one episode, he told one of the victims that their initial investment had turned a proft, providing false documentation to induce another individual to invest as well. He allegedly made the representations while knowing his trading losses had resulted in losses within those investments.
When victims later sought to reclaim their money, Myers allegedly told them their funds were inaccessible due to government actions, which he knew to be false.
Separately, the SEC filed a civil complaint charging Myers and his two companies, Sterling Capital and Sterlig Capital Management, with violations of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
According to the SEC complaint, Myers began marketing Sterling Capital Investments in January 2022, describing it on a website as a "premier capital pool" and "leader in asset management."
He reportedly touted his prior investment banking experience on Wall Street – he had worked as an analyst and associate at a New York investment bank from 2007 to 2013, before being laid off – and falsely listed two siblings in executive roles. Neither sibling was involved with the firm, the SEC said.
Myers raised approximately $4 million from at least 28 investors across five states, many of whom were family members, friends, or personal acquaintances. He distributed fabricated quarterly account statements depicting annual returns ranging from 16% to 54%, depending on the investor, and claimed the fund consistently outperformed the S&P 500, according to the SEC's complaint. In truth, Myers was losing most investor contributions almost immediately through speculative short-dated options trades.
Sterling Capital's only brokerage account was closed by the firm in approximately March 2024 due to a pattern of third-party deposits, trading losses, and withdrawals. Myers then began routing investor funds through his own personal brokerage accounts, where trading losses continued, the SEC said.
To calculate a fabricated net asset value for the fund, Myers incorporated assets the fund did not own – including his father-in-law's retirement accounts, primary residence, and adjacent land, collectively valued at approximately $1.2 million in most quarterly calculations. He also recorded his hypothetical future earnings as a million-dollar fund asset, despite having earned no income for years, according to the SEC complaint.
Myers further concealed losses by failing to issue Schedule K-1 tax forms to investors, as the fund's own offering documents required. Instead, he reported all options trading losses on his personal tax returns – over $890,000 in deductible trading losses in 2023 and more than $1 million in 2024 alone, per those returns, according to the SEC.
By the end of 2025, accounts held by Sterling Capital and Sterling Capital Management together contained less than $350. Of the approximately $4 million raised, only about $398,000 had been repaid to investors using a portion of their funds, credit card cash advances, his few successful trades, and loans, the SEC said.
The SEC further alleged that Myers misappropriated at least $1.8 million by diverting fund assets into personal accounts to pay for expenses including rent and personal credit card debt.
On the civil side, the SEC is seeking permanent injunctive relief to bar Myers from acting as or being associated with any investment adviser, disgorgement of ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest, and civil monetary penalties against Myers, Sterling Capital, and Sterling Capital Management.
It also seeks to bar Myers from participating in the offer or sale of any security beyond his own personal account.
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