Chester man accused of embezzling $2M from Newington business sentenced

NEWINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) — A Chester man accused of embezzling $2 million from a Newington business was sentenced to two years in prison and three years of supervised release.

Evan Bobzin, 39, was sentenced on Tuesday for theft and tax offenses related to a $2 million scheme.

In 2016, Bobzin became the head of information technology at Hoffman’s. In Jan. 2016, Bobzin allegedly began to steal cash from a safe at Hoffman’s front office, according to court documents and statement.

Bobzin would arrive to work before anyone else and disconnect the ethernet cables from the company computer servers to cameras that captured views of the safe steal “thousands” in cash from the pouches and reconnect the ethernet cables once he was finished, according to court documents and statement.

According to court documents and statements, Bobzin would deposit some of the cash into his own bank account. Bobzin and his partner allegedly made around 287 cash deposits of stolen Hoffman’s money, which totaled around $1,901,250, and seven cashier’s checks of about $161,330.

In Oct. 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office informed Bobzin that he was conducting cash transactions that indicated structuring to avoid having his bank file Currency Transaction Reports. Bobzin stopped making the cash deposits, opened a new account at a different bank and continued to make structured payments into that account, according to court documents and statements.

Bobzin did not report the stolen income on his federal personal income tax returns for 2016 to 2022. This resulted in a loss to the IRS of $436,178.

Bobzin pleaded guilty to the interstate transmission of stolen money and tax evasion on Aug. 29, 2024. He was ordered to pay restitution of $2,062,580 and to cooperate with the IRS to pay $436,178 in taxes.

Bobzin is required to report to prison on Jan. 6, 2025.