Ex-Cranston Man Accused Of Posing As Financial Advisor To Steal $140K

CRANSTON, RI — A man who used to live in Cranston was indicted and arraigned in federal court after prosecutors said he pretended to be a financial advisor "worth a million dollars in clients." and committed wire fraud.

Jason Johnson, 51, was charged with wire fraud. The indictment was unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Providence.

According to the indictment, in December 2017, a Rhode Island couple invested $140,000 with Johnson, who was the owner of the now defunct W.S. Solutions LLC. Within a week, Johnson diverted the funds into two bank accounts that he opened and controlled without the couple’s knowledge, prosecutors said. Over the course of a year, Johnson withdrew and spent most of the couple’s investment to pay for his own personal expenditures, according to prosecutors.

Over lengthy periods of time, Johnson failed to respond to repeated inquiries from the investors, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said he also failed to provide them with any statements of investment activity, tracking reports, or summaries. Instead, he sent them electronic communications assuring them that their accounts were being serviced and that they would receive distributions of profits at some later date.

The certificate of organization/registration for W.S. Solutions LLC was revoked by the Rhode Island Secretary of the State on July 22, 2019, for failure to file an annual report.

Johnson appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge on Wednesday and was released on unsecured bond.

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