Everett vending company ruled a Ponzi scheme in bankruptcy court
A water vending machine company that allegedly bilked investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars has been ruled a Ponzi scheme.
In U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of Washington, Judge Frederick Corbit ruled Tuesday that Water Station Management started operating a Ponzi scheme no later than March 1, 2018. Water Station's founder, 49-year-old Ryan Wear of Everett, is facing federal criminal charges in New York after being indicted by the Department of Justice in August.
According to Tuesday's order, Water Station didn't have enough income to meet its liabilities and used the money it raised to pay earlier investors and creditors.
"Debtors perpetrated a scheme to defraud thousands of victims by raising nearly $400 million in outside capital under false pretenses, failing to deploy investor funds as promised, and misappropriating and converting funds for unauthorized purposes including the enrichment of insiders," the order read.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2025/09/10/water-station-ryan-wear-bankruptcy-washington.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
