Feds say Everett firm sold as a path to easy income was a Ponzi scheme

An Everett man already facing lawsuits over an alleged Ponzi scheme now faces federal criminal charges.

Federal prosecutors contend Ryan Wear, 49, scammed investors out of more than $200 million through his company Water Station, the Department of Justice said Thursday. Between September 2016 and February 2024, he promised a business opportunity for investors to reap the profits of water-bottle filling stations he was installing in supermarkets and convenience stores, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

In a lawsuit last year, lawyers representing Water Station investors said most of the bottle filling stations didn’t exist. The DOJ repeated that claim, as did the Securities and Exchange Commission, which slapped Wear with civil charges as well.

Wear