Windsor Woman Sentenced To Prison For Defrauding Employer And Lender

HARTFORD, CT — A resident of Windsor was sentenced Tuesday to 33 months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for defrauding her former employer and one of its lenders of more than $700,000.

Margaret Boisture, 51, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Omar A. Williams, and ordered to pay a $7,100 fine and make full restitution, according to Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Boisture functioned as the chief financial employee of ZoneFlow Reactor Technologies, a pre-revenue company in the business of developing and commercializing a new technology that improves the efficiency of the production of hydrogen. PayPal marketed and serviced commercial loans from WebBank, a third-party lender, Avery said.

From around October 2016 to February 2020, Boisture defrauded ZoneFlow, PayPal and WebBank by diverting ZoneFlow money to herself; taking unauthorized loans that caused ZoneFlow to pay additional interest expense; and making misrepresentations to PayPal and WebBank to induce them to make unauthorized loans to ZoneFlow that expanded the pool of money from which Boisture could take, Avery said.

Boisture’s criminal conduct caused losses of $632,159.78 to ZoneFlow and $78,088.76 to PayPal and WebBank, Avery said.

On July 19, 2022, Boisture pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud affecting a financial institution. She is released on a $500,000 bond, and is required to report to prison March 13, according to Avery.