A coin seller that the Securities and Exchange Commission charged with ripping off retirement account holders of millions of dollars has been ordered to pay $76 million by a federal court, the regulator announced.

The order was the result of a consent agreement between the SEC and Red Rock Secured, a dealer of gold and silver coins that now goes under the name of American Coin Co., according to the SEC. Also named as defendants in the order were the company's CEO, Sean Kelly, and managers Anthony Spencer and Jeffrey Ward. In its original complaint, the SEC said the company is a Nevada limited liability company operating out of El Segundo, Calif.

The commission brought civil charges against the company and its officials a year ago, accusing them of defrauding retirement account holders of more than $50 million through coin sales between 2017 and 2022. During that time, the agency said, the company’s employees used "false and misleading statements" to persuade people to sell securities in their retirement accounts to buy gold or silver coins at a 1% to 5% markup.

"In reality, Red Rock charged as much as 130 percent in markups on the precious metal coins they sold to investors," the SEC said in a press release. "Through this scheme, defendants allegedly defrauded at least 700 investors out of more than $50 million."

The investors sold securities in their federal employee Thrift Savings Plan accounts, 401(k) plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) to buy the coins, the SEC said. The agency has said the company officials specifically targeted individuals with those types of accounts "through numerous email campaigns, digital newsletters and advertisements."

Company emails obtained by the agency also revealed that Red Rock targeted "right-wing conservatives" and people over 59 years of age, according to the SEC complaint.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and regulators in Hawaii and California, which had parallel civil cases against the coin company, also obtained final judgments in the order issued by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The SEC announced the order today; it was issued by the court on April 23.

As is usual in such settlements with the SEC, the defendants consented to the penalties and the findings without admitting to or denying the accusations.