Chester Man Embezzled From Newington Gun Store, Sent To Prison: Feds

NEWINGTON/CHESTER, CT — A Chester man who embezzled millions from a Newington gun store was sentenced to prison in federal court Tuesday.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney Connecticut, said Wednesday that Evan Bobzin, 39, of Chester, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kari A. Dooley in Bridgeport to two years of prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for theft and tax offenses stemming from a $2 million embezzlement scheme.

According to court documents and statements made in court, from July 2013 until December 2023, Bobzin was an employee of Hoffman’s Gun Center in Newington.

Authorities said, in 2016, he became the head of information technology at Hoffman’s.

In January 2016, Bobzin began to steal cash receipts from a safe in Hoffman’s front office, Avery said.

Bobzin would arrive at work before other employees, disconnect ethernet cables from the company’s computer servers to cameras that captured views of the safe, enter the front office, open the safe, steal thousands of dollars in cash from receipt pouches, return the pouches to the safe, and then reconnect the ethernet cables, officials said.

He would then deposit some or all of the cash proceeds into his personal bank accounts, according to Avery.

Between 2016 and 2023, Bobzin and his former spouse made 287 cash deposits of stolen money from Hoffman’s totaling $1,901,250 into his bank accounts, and seven cash purchases of cashier’s checks totaling $161,330, officials said.

In October 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office notified Bobzin that he was conducting cash transactions in amounts below $10,000 in a manner indicative of structuring to avoid having his bank file Currency Transaction Reports.

Bobzin ceased making cash deposits at his bank, opened new accounts at a different bank, and resumed making structured cash deposits into those accounts, officials said.

Avery said Bobzin failed to report the stolen income on his federal personal income tax returns for the 2016 through 2022 tax years, resulting in a loss to the IRS of $436,178.

On Aug. 29, Bobzin pleaded guilty to interstate transmission of stolen money and tax evasion.

Dooley ordered Bobzin to pay restitution of $2,062,580 and to cooperate with the IRS to pay $436,178 in taxes, as well as penalties and interest.

Bobzin, who is released on a $50,000 bond, is required to report to prison on Jan. 6, 2025.

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