Woodbridge Resident Arrested for Operating Multiple Alleged Fraud Schemes

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Kimberly K. Mertz, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced that JOHN VOLOSHIN, 55, of Penny Lane, Woodbridge, was arrested today on a criminal complaint charging him operating multiple fraud schemes.

According to allegations in court documents and statements made in court, VOLOSHIN has represented himself to be in the business of real estate development. In approximately 2006, VOLOSHIN asked an individual to loan him $500,000. VOLOSHIN indicated that he was in contract to purchase a house on Martha’s Vineyard, but there had been a delay in financing and he needed the money or he would lose a large down payment. The victim agreed to loan VOLOSHIN the money, and VOLOSHIN agreed to pay the victim back within 30 days. To date, VOLOSHIN has not repaid the loan, and public records checks reveal no Martha’s Vineyard property purchased by VOLOSHIN during 2006.

It is also alleged that, in 2008, VOLOSHIN received a home equity loan in the amount of $250,000 from a Connecticut bank. In support of his home equity loan application, VOLOSHIN submitted a 2007 federal tax return, purportedly prepared by an accounting firm and signed by a principal of that firm, showing total income of approximately $916,000. It is alleged that no member of the represented accounting firm prepared the tax return for VOLOSHIN. As of August 2011, the outstanding balance on the bank loan was more than $252,000, and no payments had been made since March 2011. It is further alleged that, in 2010, VOLOSHIN defrauded an individual for whom he had agreed to bid on the bank auction of a hotel on Nantucket. VOLOSHIN instructed the victim to send him a check in the amount of $250,000 made payable to the name of the auction company. In February 2010, the victim attempted to bid on the hotel, but was told by the auction company that the $250,000 check was never received. It is alleged that VOLOSHIN deposited the check into a bank account that he opened in a name similar to the name of the auction company. Bank records indicate that large wire transfers from the account were wired to an entity that VOLOSHIN controlled, and also to VOLOSHIN’s family members.

In June 2010, it is alleged that VOLOSHIN applied for and received a $520,000 refinance loan from a mortgage lender for a property he has owned on Martha’s Vineyard since 1999. In association with the loan application, VOLOSHIN submitted a financial account statement showing an account balance in excess of $3 million. It is alleged that the account statement was fraudulent, and the financial company has no record of an account with VOLOSHIN. It is further alleged that VOLOSHIN failed to disclose more than $1.2 million in outstanding liens against the Martha’s Vineyard property.

It is alleged that VOLOSHIN used approximately $250,000 of the refinance loan proceeds to pay the victim of the hotel auction fraud scheme.

The complaint charges VOLOSHIN with mail fraud, wire fraud, and making a false statement on a loan application.

Following his arrest this morning, VOLOSHIN appeared before United States Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis in New Haven. He is detained pending a detention hearing that is scheduled for November 21 at 11:00 a.m.

U.S. Attorney Fein and FBI Special Agent in Charge Mertz noted that the investigation into these alleged schemes is ongoing, and asked individuals who have information that may helpful to the investigation to contact the FBI at (203) 777-6311.

U.S. Attorney Fein stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to have this matter presented to a grand jury and, in the event an indictment is returned, he is entitled to a trial at which it will be the Government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David T Huang and Michael S. McGarry.

This case was brought in coordination with the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which was established to wage an aggressive and coordinated effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

To report financial fraud crimes, and to learn more about the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, please visit www.stopfraud.gov.