Former Greenwich Personal Driver Sentenced In $889K Fraud Scheme

GREENWICH, CT — A 43-year-old Haitian citizen, who formerly lived in Greenwich and Stamford, was sentenced Wednesday to 37 months in prison for stealing $889,000 from two clients who paid him to drive for them, according to United States Attorney John H. Durham.

Georges Avridor was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport. He had pleaded guilty in April of last year to one count of bank fraud in connection with the crimes. He had been arrested in June of 2017.

According to prosecutors and court documents, Avridor stole personal bank checks from the two Greenwich victims between July 2013 and October 2016.

"He made the checks payable either to 'Cash' or to himself for various amounts of money and forged the signature of one of his employers on the checks," wrote Durham in a statement. "He then cashed the checks at a bank or had the proceeds deposited into a bank account that he controlled."

In total, Avridor stole $889,425 through this scheme, "and used some of the funds to take an African safari and to rent luxury sports cars."

Separately in May of 2018, while he was out on $50,000 bond, Avridor was arrested on unrelated state charges in Stamford for using a credit card belonging to another individual and for cashing fake checks. He has been detained in state custody since that time.

Upon his release, Avridor will be deported back to Haiti.

This matter was investigated by the Greenwich Police Department, U.S. Secret Service and Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Miller.

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