U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery | U.S. Department of Justice
James Blose, 56, from Fairfield, has pleaded guilty in New Haven federal court to charges related to a long-running embezzlement scheme. The scheme, which lasted nearly a decade, involved his roles as General Counsel and other senior positions at various banks.
The announcement was made by Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut; Robert Fuller, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Harry T. Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation in New England; and Brian Tucker, Special Agent in Charge of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’s Office of the Inspector General, Eastern Region.
Court documents reveal that from around 2013 to January 2022, Blose held high-ranking positions at Hudson Valley Bank and Sterling National Bank. After Webster Bank acquired Sterling National Bank in January 2022, Blose served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel until February 2023.
During this period, Blose engaged in fraudulent activities against his employers. He misappropriated portions of closing costs from commercial loan transactions and retained parts of sale proceeds from real estate transactions where The Bank was involved. To conceal these actions, he created false documents. Additionally, he used attorney trust accounts for personal expenses and transferred funds to business entities he controlled.
Through these activities, Blose embezzled approximately $7.4 million from his employers. He pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud with a potential maximum sentence of 30 years and one count of engaging in illegal monetary transactions with a possible maximum sentence of 10 years. He is currently released on a $250,000 bond awaiting sentencing on March 13 in Hartford.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Board of Governors' Office along with financial crimes investigators from Webster Bank.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael S. McGarry and Ross Weingarten are prosecuting the case.
