Woodbridge Resident Admits Defrauding Individuals and Lenders of More Than $1.5 Million

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOHN VOLOSHIN, 56, of Penny Lane, Woodbridge, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before United States Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford to one count of mail fraud stemming from his operation of multiple schemes that have caused losses of more than $1.5 million to individuals and lenders.

According to court documents and statements made in court, 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. Rather than delivering money to the auction company, VOLOSHIN deposited the check into a bank account for which he had sole signatory authority and used the proceeds from that check to enrich himself.

In pleading guilty, VOLOSHIN also admitted that he committed three other frauds. 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 that he needed the money or he would lose a deposit. The victim agreed to loan VOLOSHIN the money. To date, VOLOSHIN has not repaid the loan.

In 2008, VOLOSHIN received a home equity loan in the amount of $250,000 from Webster Bank. In support of his home equity loan application, VOLOSHIN submitted a false federal tax return. As of August 2011, the outstanding balance on the bank loan was more than $252,000.

In June 2010, 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 at UBS when, in reality, he had no account at UBS. VOLOSHIN used approximately $250,000 of the refinance loan proceeds to pay the victim of the hotel auction fraud scheme.

In total, VOLOSHIN’s schemes resulted in losses of approximately $1.52 million.

VOLOSHIN is scheduled to be sentenced on April 5, 2012, by United States District Judge Robert N. Chatigny, at which time VOLOSHIN faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

VOLOSHIN has been detained since his arrest on November 18, 2011.

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.