Shelton Man Sentenced to Prison for Fraudulently Obtaining COVID-19 Relief Funds — District of Connecticut (December 10, 2025)

Summary

Press release of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Connecticut, dated December 10, 2025. Vincenzo Minutolo of Shelton was sentenced by Judge Dooley in Bridgeport to 21 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds; according to court documents, between March and September 2021 he defrauded the Paycheck Protection Program of more than $145,000 using false loan applications and fraudulent IRS filings, and between March 2020 and April 2021 he defrauded the Connecticut Department of Labor of more than $140,000 with fraudulent unemployment applications in others' names. He was ordered to pay $244,612 in restitution, had pleaded guilty on February 28, 2025 to two counts of wire fraud, and is to report to prison on January 22.

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PRESS RELEASE


Shelton Man Sentenced to Prison for
Fraudulently Obtaining COVID-19 Relief
Funds
Wednesday, December 10, 2025

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Connecticut

David X. Sullivan, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that
VINCENZO MINUTOLO, 39, of Shelton, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kari
A. Dooley in Bridgeport to 21 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised
release for fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on March 2020, Congress
passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which provided
emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering the economic effects caused by
the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the
authorization of forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other
expenses through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). In April 2020, Congress
approved more than $300 billion in additional PPP funding. The PPP allowed qualifying
small businesses and other organizations to receive unsecured loans at an interest rate
of 1%. PPP loan proceeds were to be used by businesses on payroll costs, interest on
mortgages, rent and utilities. The PPP allowed the interest and principal to be forgiven if
businesses spent the proceeds on these expenses within a certain period of time of
receipt and used at least a certain percentage of the amount to be forgiven for payroll.

The PPP was overseen by the Small Business Administration, which has authority over all
PPP loans. Individual PPP loans, however, were issued by private approved lenders,
which received and processed PPP applications and supporting documentation, and
then made loans using the lenders’ own funds, which were guaranteed by the SBA.

Minutolo claimed an ownership interest or representative relationship with City Sounds
Productions LLC (“City Sounds”). Between March and September 2021, Minutolo
defrauded the PPP loan program of more than $145,000 by providing false information
on loan applications for City Sounds, including overstating the yearly gross income for
City Sounds; misrepresenting that similar PPP loans had not been or would not be
sought when he had, in fact, sought and obtained, and intended to seek and obtain,
such loans; and providing fraudulent IRS tax filings and tax payment vouchers for City
Sounds that had, in fact, never been filed with the IRS. Similarly, on the forgiveness
applications he submitted, Minutolo materially misrepresented having complied with all
the requirements of the PPP rules.

In addition, the CARES Act created a new temporary federal unemployment insurance
program for pandemic unemployment assistance (“Pandemic Unemployment
Assistance”). Pandemic Unemployment Assistance provided unemployment insurance
(“UI”) benefits for employed individuals who are not eligible for other types of UI due to
their employment status. The CARES Act also created a new temporary federal program
called Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (“FPUC”) that provided
additional weekly benefits to those eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance or
regular UI. The Connecticut Department of Labor (CT-DOL) administers UI benefits for
residents of Connecticut.

Between March 2020 and April 2021, Minutolo defrauded the CT-DOL of more than
$140,000 by providing the CT-DOL with fraudulent Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
applications seeking unemployment insurance payments in others’ names, including
individuals who had died, and individuals who did not know that their name and
sometimes other personal information was being used. One fraudulent application was
for Minutolo’s grandfather, who died in 2014, and included a telephone number
associated with Minutolo. Minutolo continued to make online weekly certifications to
the CT-DOL attesting that the information contained in his grandfather’s application,
and other applications, were true in order to receive continued unemployment
insurance benefits.

Judge Dooley ordered Minutolo to pay $244,612 in restitution.

On February 28, 2025, Minutolo pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud. Released on
a $50,000 bond, he is required to report to prison on January 22.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Office of
Inspector General and the U.S. Department of Labor – Office of the Inspector
General. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher W. Schmeisser.

Individuals with information about allegations of fraud involving COVID-19 are
encouraged to report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for
Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721, or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form
at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.
Updated December 10, 2025

Topics
CORONAVIRUS

DISASTER FRAUD

FINANCIAL FRAUD

Component
USAO - Connecticut


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