Ex-Middletown Mayor Stole $900K From Employer, Family: Feds

MIDDLETOWN, CT — A Middletown man faces up to 20 years in federal prison after authorities say he stole more than $900,000 from his former employer and a family member in an embezzlement scheme. Stephen T. Gionfriddo, 67, was arrested and charged Tuesday with wire fraud stemming from an alleged scheme in which he embezzled about $490,000 from his former employer and then embezzled about $457,000 from a family member to pay back his former employer, U.S. States Attorney for Connecticut John H. Durham and Patricia M. Ferrick, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced in a joint press release. Gionfriddo, who served as mayor for sixth months in 1993, has recently worked as an Election Day moderator, according to the Middletown Press.

According to the criminal complaint, Gionfriddo was convicted of federal wire fraud and mail fraud offenses in 2006 for embezzling more than $633,000 from clients while acting as their attorney. The complaint alleges that, from approximately December 2013 through September 2017, while Gionfriddo was working as a paralegal at a law firm in greater Hartford, he made bogus requisitions for approximately $377,895.67 in checks purportedly to pay client expenses.

“Gionfriddo converted these funds for his personal use,” according to a press release from the U.S. States Attorney’s Office. “Gionfriddo also forged the signature of one of the firm’s partners in order to fraudulently convert a certificate of deposit (CD) of approximately $112,748.21 to a check, which funds he also converted for his personal use. In total, Gionfriddo stole $490,648.88 from the law firm.

“The complaint further alleges that principals at the law firm confronted Gionfriddo about the theft of funds in late September 2017, and Gionfriddo promised to repay the firm. Gionfriddo then stole from a family member by taking approximately $45,000 from a checking account and approximately $217,000 from an online trading account. He also caused a hardship withdrawal of $195,000 to be made against his family member’s defined contribution plan by impersonating his family member on recorded telephone calls with the plan’s provider and submitting bogus paperwork.”

If convicted of wire fraud, Gionfriddo faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. He appeared in federal court in New Haven on Tuesday and was released on a $200,000 bond.

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