Dominick Donofrio, Securities Fraud, Connecticut 2019

⏱ 2 min read

Dominick Donofrio, a 73-year-old financial advisor from Middlefield, Connecticut, scammed a client out of $2.5 million in a complex scheme involving fake fees, loans, and inflated purchase prices. Donofrio, the president and owner of Windstar Financial Services, convinced his client, Wisconsin-based Randall Robert Binversie Holdings, to purchase a home heating oil company in Philadelphia, known as Tioga Fuel, for $2,050,567, when in fact the actual purchase price was significantly lower. The scam took place between 2013 and 2014, with Donofrio using the money to line his own pockets.

Donofrio’s scheme involved not only the inflated purchase price but also fraudulent consulting, negotiation, and legal fees, totaling over $987,000. He also stole $87,000 from Tioga Fuel’s account during the acquisition and obtained $136,000 from his client as interest payments on a fictitious $1.25 million loan.

Donofrio was eventually caught and pleaded guilty to the crime. On July 30, 2019, a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania returned an indictment charging him with the offense. However, Donofrio became a fugitive until his arrest on July 24, 2024, in Mystic, Connecticut. He was sentenced to 36 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release.

The case highlights the importance of due diligence and transparency in financial transactions, particularly when dealing with large sums of money. Donofrio’s scheme was a classic example of a white-collar crime, where the perpetrator used their position of trust and expertise to exploit their client for personal gain.

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