Financial Advisor Indicted, Arraigned on Fraud Charge

PROVIDENCE – A man formerly from Cranston who falsely represented himself as a financial advisor worth a “million dollars in clients” has been indicted and arraigned in federal court on a charge of wire fraud, announced Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.

According to an indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, in December 2017, a Rhode Island couple invested $140,000 with Jason Johnson, 51, the then proprietor of the now defunct W.S. Solutions LLC. It is alleged that within a week, Johnson diverted the funds into two bank accounts that he opened and controlled without the couple’s knowledge. It is alleged that over the next 12 months, Johnson withdrew and spent most of the couple’s invested funds to pay for his own personal expenditures.

It is alleged that, over lengthy periods of time, Johnson failed to respond to repeated inquiries from the investors. Additionally, he 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The Certificate of Organization/Registration for W.S. Solutions LLC was revoked by the Rhode Island Secretary of the State on July 22, 2019, for failure to file an annual report.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. A federal indictment is merely an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lee H. Vilker.

The matter was investigated jointly by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the FBI.

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