United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

JURY FINDS NORTH HAVEN MAN GUILTY OF BANK FRAUD

Kevin J. O'Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that a federal jury sitting in Hartford today found RALPH F. VITALE, age 68, of 19 Greenfield Lane, North Haven, Connecticut guilty of five counts of bank fraud.

Information disclosed during the trial revealed that VITALE, Charles J. Hoblin, an accountant from Cheshire, Connecticut, and Peter Trantino of West Haven, Connecticut, and a former Business Development Officer at Fleet Bank, schemed to defraud Fleet Bank of $500,000. On January 25, 1996, an Easy Business Banking Loan application was submitted by Trantino to the Fleet Bank underwriting department seeking a $100,000 loan for a purported business called Air Technologies, Inc. The loan was approved based upon the information in the application, and upon a corporate income tax return for Air Technologies and a personal income tax return for the purported corporate president. However, the information on the application, including the assets of the company and the purported president, was false, as were the income and expenses of Air Technologies in its corporate tax return. These figures had been fabricated by Hoblin and Vitale. In fact, Air Technologies had never engaged in business.

In addition, the name of one of Hoblin's clients was used, without the client's knowledge, as the president of Air Technologies, and the client's individual income tax return was submitted along with the application. The client's signature on the application, which was witnessed by Trantino, was forged.

After Fleet approved the loan, VITALE, who was authorized to sign checks drawn on the Air Technologies checking account that had been opened to receive the proceeds of the loan, controlled the checkbook. Thereafter, checks were written bearing the forged signature of Hoblin's client or that of VITALE.

Between January 25, 1996, and March 29, 1996, additional similarly fraudulent loan application packages were submitted to Fleet Bank for Our Futures, Inc., Paper Technologies, Inc., Tripp Hauling and Carting, Inc., and 1st CADA, Inc. The only differences were that a relative of Hoblin was authorized to sign checks on the 1st CADA account, and a relative of VITALE could sign checks on the Our Futures account. In addition, Hoblin told one of his friends that he would use the friend's tax return in connection with a bank loan. VITALE or Hoblin drew down or attempted to draw down approximately $403,000 from the five fraudulent loans.

Hoblin pleaded guilty to his involvement in the scheme on December 13, 2001, and Trantino pleaded guilty on July 24, 2003. Each is awaiting sentencing. VITALE is scheduled to be sentenced on August 16, 2004, when he faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 150 years and a fine of up to $5,000,000.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Calvin B. Kurimai and Lisa E. Perkins.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov