Defrauded investors of over $40 million in a Ponzi scheme. Among his victims were
Jonathan Quinn,
Ron Vannatta, the First Christian Church Scholarship Fund (Shelbyville, TN), and his two brothers. The trustee for McLean's estate brought suit against 80 people, including McLean's aunt, charging that they had received money McLean had diverted to them from his investors. The trustee also sought from the Country Music Hall of Fame (directed by
Kyle Young) instruments McLean had donated, which he had bought with investors' money.