A Windsor resident has pleaded guilty in connection with a fraud scheme that affected her former employer and an online lender.
Margaret Boisture, 50, waived her right to be indicted and pleaded guilty yesterday in Hartford federal court to one count of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Boisture was the chief financial employee of ZoneFlow Reactor Technologies, a Windsor company working on developing and commercializing technology to improve the efficiency of the production of hydrogen. The company was in pre-revenue stage.
Prosecutors say that between approximately October 2016 and February 2020, Boisture defrauded ZoneFlow along with PayPal, which marketed and serviced commercial loans, and WebBank, a third-party lender.
In the scheme, Boisture diverted ZoneFlow money to herself and took unauthorized loans that caused the company to pay additional interest expense, the U.S. attorney’s statement said. Boisture also made misrepresentations to PayPal and WebBank to induce them to provide unauthorized loans to ZoneFlow, the statement said, expanding the pool of money from which Boisture could take.
Boisture’s scheme caused losses of $632,159.78 to ZoneFlow and $78,066.76 to PayPal and WebBank, the statement said.
Boisture is released on a $500,000 bond pending sentencing, which has not been scheduled.
