Bolton Man Gets Prison Time In $1.3 Million Investment Fraud Case

BOLTON, CT — A Bolton man has been sentenced to nearly four years in a federal prison for fraud and tax offenses.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, said that Mark Pagani, 61, of Bolton, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 45 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for fraud and tax evasion offenses.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from 2013 to at least August 2015, Pagani conspired with another person, Known as "K.S." and is now deceased, to defraud an "investor" of more than $1 million.

K.S. arranged investment deals with the "victim," including the purported acquisition of mortgages on properties, according to case records. Pagani drafted documents to "memorialize certain investment deals," accepted funds from the "victim" and held the funds in accounts he controlled and eventually transferred funds to entities controlled by K.S. and others, according to case records.

By the time the "victim investor" made a third commitment, which was to acquire mortgages on properties in Springfield in Massachusetts and Middletown in Connecticut, Pagani knew that the first two investments had not occurred, and that the third investment was not legitimate, Avery said.

In association with the third investment, the "victim" wired more than $1.3 million to an account Pagani controlled and the funds were "comingled" with other funds, which Pagani sent a portion of to an entity for the benefit of K.S., according to case records.

In order to conceal the fraud and to create the appearance that it was a legitimate investment, Pagani wired false interest payments to the victim, according to case records.

In addition, for the 2014 through 2017 tax years, Pagani paid for personal and other expenses using his law firm account and underreported his income on his federal tax returns, resulting in a tax loss of $181,702, Avery said. Pagani was previously a practicing attorney with a law office in Wethersfield.

Judge Bryant will issue a restitution order at a later date, Avery said.

On August 20, 2021, Pagani pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of tax evasion.

Thursday's sentencing is related to Pagani's third federal conviction.

Pagani, who is released on bond, was ordered to report to prison on Jan. 13, 2023.