Chester Man Pleads Guilty To Embezzling From Newington Gun Store: Feds

CHESTER/NEWINGTON, CT — A Chester man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to stealing millions from a Newington gun store.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut, and Harry T. Chavis, Jr., special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England, said Evan Bobzin, 39, of Chester, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport to offenses stemming from a $2 million embezzlement scheme.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from July 2013 until December 2023, Bobzin was an employee of Hoffman’s Gun Center in Newington.

In 2016, he became the head of information technology at Hoffman’s.

In January 2016, Bobzin began to steal cash receipts from a safe in Hoffman’s front office, federal officials said.

Avery said Bobzin would arrive at work before other employees, and disconnect ethernet cables from the company’s computer servers to cameras that captured views of the safe.

He would then enter the front office, open the safe, steal thousands of dollars in cash from receipt pouches, return the pouches to the safe, and then reconnect the ethernet cables, she said.

He would then deposit some or all of the cash proceeds into personal bank accounts, officials said.

Between 2016 and 2023, Bobzin and a former spouse made 287 cash deposits of stolen money from Hoffman’s totaling $1,901,250 into his bank accounts, and seven cash purchases of cashier’s checks totaling $161,330, according to federal officials.

Bobzin used the funds to pay for personal expenses, including to monthly American Express bills and mortgage payments, Avery said.

In October 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office notified Bobzin that he was conducting cash transactions in amounts below $10,000 in a manner indicative of structuring to avoid having his bank file Currency Transaction Reports.

Bobzin ceased making cash deposits at his bank, opened new accounts at a different bank, and resumed making structured cash deposits into those accounts, Avery said.

Bobzin failed to report the stolen income on his federal personal income tax returns for the 2016 through 2022 tax years, resulting in a loss to the IRS of $436,178, she said.

Bobzin pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transmission of stolen money, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, and one count of tax evasion, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.

He will be sentenced on Nov. 26.

Bobzin has agreed to pay restitution of $2,062,580, and to cooperate with the IRS to pay $436,178 in taxes, as well as penalties and interest, Avery said.

Bobzin is released on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing.

For the full federal announcement, click on this link.