U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery | U.S. Department of Justice
Vanessa Roberts Avery, the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that John Voloshin, also known as "Josh Thomas," has been sentenced to approximately 41 months of imprisonment. This sentence includes time already served and three years of supervised release for fraud and identity theft offenses. U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny in Hartford ordered Voloshin to spend the first six months of his supervised release in a halfway house.
Court documents reveal that in May 2012, Voloshin was sentenced to 33 months in prison and three years of supervised release for multiple fraud schemes causing losses exceeding $1.5 million. Released from prison in May 2014, he violated his supervised release terms by lying about a fake job opportunity, resulting in an additional nine-month sentence in November 2014.
In late 2015, Voloshin engaged in another fraudulent scheme involving false investment promises. In November 2017, he received a 27-month sentence and was ordered to pay $275,000 in restitution on top of previous obligations. He was released from prison again in May 2018.
Between January and April 2019, Voloshin defrauded a Bloomfield company providing accounting services by stealing blank checks and forging signatures for personal gain. He incorporated a sham entity with a similar name to the victim company to facilitate this scheme, defrauding victims of $56,548.71.
A federal grand jury indicted Voloshin on September 23, 2020. Arrested on July 14, 2021, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, he had been detained since then. On May 30, 2024, he pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges.
Judge Chatigny mandated full restitution from Voloshin.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with assistance from the Bloomfield Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David T. Huang and Sean P. Mahard.
U.S Attorney Avery expressed gratitude towards Interpol and Brazilian authorities for their role in apprehending Voloshin and acknowledged the U.S Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs for coordinating extradition proceedings.
