Man Gets 2 Years In Prison For $3 Million Fraud Scheme

EAST HAVEN, CT — John T. Finkle III, 58, will spend the next two years in federal prison for his part in a $3 million fraud scheme, the US Attorney said Friday.

The East Haven man was sentenced in U.S. District Court to serve 24 months followed by three years of supervised release following his July guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

Out on $500,000 bond, Finkle is due to report to the federal Bureau of Prisons on Jan. 8.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Finkle was employed by JST, a supplier of electronic components. Between approximately February 2015 and December 2018, Finkle conspired with Kenneth Pedroli to defraud JST through a scheme involving purchases of electronic components that Pedroli made from JST for a business he operated in Islandia, New York. As part of the scheme, Finkle instructed Pedroli to place his orders and list prices at a fraction of JST’s published prices. After Pedroli’s orders were submitted to JST at the discounted prices, the products were shipped from JST to Pedroli. Finkle instructed Pedroli to pay only a portion of the invoiced price and to make the payments directly to Finkle, which Pedroli did. Finkle deposited the payments into his personal checking account, and provided a portion of the funds to another JST employee who manipulated the accounting records of JST to make it appear that Pedroli had paid JST for the products he received.

The company was defrauded of $3,359,058.69 through this scheme. A federal judge ordered Finkle to make full restitution.