Former President Of Madison Company Pleads Guilty to $2.5 Million Wire Fraud Scheme: Feds

MADISON, CT — A 73-year-old Middlefield man pleaded guilty Wednesday to wire fraud in connection with a $2.5 million scheme while he was president and owner of a Madison-based company, accoring to prosecutors.

Dominick N. Donofrio pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport. Donofrio was the president and owner of Windstar Financial Services, Inc.

Court documents and statements detail that Donofrio was hired in January 2013 by Randall Robert Binversie Holdings of Wisconsin to provide business and financial consulting services. Binversie was interested in purchasing a renewable fuel business. In early 2014, Donofrio informed Binversie about an opportunity to buy Tioga Fuel, a home heating oil company in Philadelphia, along with its properties. Donofrio stated the purchase price was $2,050,567.

Donofrio had fraudulently increased the actual purchase price by approximately $1,300,000, according to prosecutors. He then completed the transaction. In his guilty plea, Donofrio admitted to defrauding Binversie of more than $2.5 million.

This loss amount includes the difference between the actual and inflated purchase price of the Tioga properties. It also includes over $987,000 in fraudulent consulting, negotiation, and legal fees paid by Binversie in 2013 and 2014. Additionally, Donofrio stole approximately $87,000 from Tioga Fuel’s account during the acquisition. He also obtained about $136,000 from Binversie as interest payments on a fictitious $1.25 million “loan,” which Donofrio claimed Windstar had fronted during the acquisition.

A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania initially charged Donofrio with the offense on July 30, 2019. Donofrio was a fugitive until his arrest on July 24, 2024, in Mystic. He was arrested again on December 3, 2025, after failing to appear for a pretrial conference in Philadelphia on July 22, 2025, and has been detained since. The case was transferred to the District of Connecticut for prosecution.

Judge Dooley has scheduled sentencing for April 29. Donofrio faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted this investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jonathan Francis of the District of Connecticut and Anita Eve of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania are prosecuting the case.