SHELTON – A Shelton businessman pled guilty in federal court Feb. 28 to stealing at least $230,000 through two pandemic-era aid programs.
Vincenzo Minutolo, 38, defrauded the federal government of hundreds of thousands of dollars in business loans and unemployment insurance, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Minutolo pled guilty to two counts of wire fraud. He is expected to be sentenced to between 15 and 21 months in prison, according to the terms of the plea agreement. He also agreed to pay back the stolen money.
Minutolo owned a business, City Sounds Production LLC, which in 2021 opened a recording studio in Milford. The business also sold A/V equipment. According to court documents, Minutolo inflated his company’s income in order to secure larger loans from the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Minutolo was able to get a $145,000 PPP loan using the fake information in 2021, which he later applied to have forgiven. His company was dissolved in 2024, according to state records, and no longer appears to be in business.
Separately, Minutolo exploited a pandemic-era program providing unemployment insurance in order to steal between $86,000 and $273,000 from the government. According to court documents, he submitted multiple applications using other people’s names – including his grandfather, who had passed away in 2014 – in order to receive multiple paychecks from the government each week.
Minutolo used at least four other people’s names to secure unemployment insurance checks between March 2020 and April 2021, according to the plea agreement.
Minutolo is represented in the case by federal public defender Andrew Giering. The Valley Indy sent an email requesting comment.
Minutolo also faces two other pending cases in Connecticut state court. He is accused of issuing bad checks in Shelton; and he was arrested Feb. 27 in Clinton and charged with forgery and larceny, according to the state judicial website.
