Man Stole From Brother To Pay Back Embezzlement: U.S. Attorney

MIDDLETOWN, CT — Middletown man Stephen Gionfriddo, 68, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to stealing $400,000 from his brother in order to pay back more than $500,000 he embezzled from his former Rocky Hill law firm employer.

This is Gionfriddo's second federal embezzlement conviction. In 2006 he was convicted of wire and mail fraud for embezzling more than $633,000 from his clients while acting as an attorney. He's paid back $44,910 in restitution for that case.

Gionfriddo worked at a Rocky Hill law firm as a paralegal. He tricked the firm's bookkeeper into paying his own creditors by saying the funds were being used to pay for client expenses, according to the U.S. Attorney District of Connecticut office.

He also signed over checks made out to the law firm or its clients and deposited them into his own bank account. One of the biggest schemes he pulled involved forging the signature of a law firm partner to cancel the CD of one of the firm's clients, which he then converted over for more than $112,000 for his own personal use.

He stole more than $543,000 from the firm and its clients, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. The law firm caught on in September and he promised to repay the firm. He impersonated his own brother to gain access to his Thrift Savings Plan federal retirement account. He withdrew $195,000 under a hardship exception. He also had his brother's mail held by the U.S. Post Office for a month in order to prevent his brother from finding out about the scheme.

He also stole another $201,000 from his brother's bank and investment accounts.

Gionfriddo was arrested in June 2018 and pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud in November 2018. He is due to report to prison in April and was ordered to pay more than $446,000 in restitution, most of which is for his brother.