Sean T. Johnson, Fake Investment Fraud Scheme, Washington District of Columbia 2019

A Texas man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for carrying out a six-year fraud scheme in which he tricked victims into investing with him in ventures that did not exist, and lied to victims about his professional background, his contacts with celebrities, and his personal net worth, in order to induce them to invest in the scheme.

Sean T. Johnson, also known as Shawn Johnson, 42, of Dallas, Texas, pleaded guilty in November 2019 to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

According to the U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, and Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal Division, Johnson varied his approach based upon the personality, gender, and lifestyle of the victim, but the scam almost always began with the defendant flashing money near the victim, name-dropping celebrity friends who were investors in his ventures, talking up his business acumen, and offering to ‘help’ his friends become wealthy, like him.

Johnson wore expensive designer clothes, talked constantly about his wealth, and bragged about owning expensive houses and condominiums. To add legitimacy to his scheme, he created ‘promissory notes’ to document victims’ investments. In total, Johnson swindled his victims from all over the country out of over $1 million. He spent these illegal proceeds on lavish personal expenditures, such as luxury vehicles, designer clothing, alcoholic beverages at nightclubs, tickets to sporting events, and gambling at casinos.

More than a dozen victims submitted victim impact statements to the court in which they described the devastating emotional and financial consequences of the defendant’s misconduct. Most victims lost the entirety of their savings, ruined their credit, and/or were forced into foreclosure or bankruptcy as a result of the scheme.

Johnson was arrested in October 2018. He has been in custody since. Following his prison term, Johnson will be placed on four years of supervised release. The judge also ordered Johnson to pay restitution to the victims but will decide the precise amount of restitution at a later date.

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