A financial adviser from South St. Paul was sentenced recently in Ramsey County District Court for stealing more than $20,000 from a client and plotting to steal money from another.
Jennifer Rebecca Johnson, 42, was sentenced to five days in jail and five years probation for one count of theft by swindle and another of attempted theft by swindle.
In October 2014, Johnson — who worked for Ameriprise Financial Services at the time — transferred $15,000 from a client’s bank account to a bank account connected to her husband’s business, Johnson Builders LLP, according to the criminal complaint.
She transferred another $6,000 from the same client’s account in November 2014, noting in her records that the payments were made to her husband for building the client a garage and for concrete work, charges said.
The client later told investigators he never hired Johnson’s husband and was told the money was going to be invested.
In February 2016, Johnson transferred money from a different client’s account to the one connected to her husband’s business. When the woman was notified of the transfer by a customer service representative, she called Johnson to discuss the activity. Johnson said it “was a mistake,” the complaint said.