New Haven Man Sentenced For Extensive Credit Card Fraud: Feds
NEW HAVEN, CT — A New Haven man has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for credit card and identity theft, according to a statement from John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut. Steven Finkler, aka Andrew Finkler, 56, will also serve three years of supervised release.
According to prosecutors, in August 2017, Finkler stole credit cards from two of his employer’s customers and used the cards to make more than 40 fraudulent charges in Connecticut and New York.
The charges included Finkler’s purchase of jewelry for his girlfriend, Apple products and electronic devices, and other high-end consumer and retail goods for either himself or his friends. The total loss to the victims was $20,867.73.
Then in September 2018, Finkler used another person’s identity to open a membership at a fitness center with gym locations throughout Connecticut. Finkler also used the same stolen identity to create accounts with mobile device payment applications.
Between September 2018 and May 2019, Finkler visited multiple gym locations and stole credit cards from lockers and other locations while the victims were located elsewhere in the gym. He used the stolen credit cards and the mobile device payment applications to make roughly $144,000 in fictitious charges to bank accounts that he created and controlled.
He then returned the credit cards to the victims’ wallets before the victims returned to the locker room. About 50 people were victimized through this scheme.
A judge ordered Finkler to pay restitution of $145,657.06.
Finkler has been detained since his arrest Aug. 15, 2019. He pleaded guilty Jan. 15, 2020, to one count of access device fraud (credit card fraud), one count of wire fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
Finkler has a criminal history that spans nearly 40 years and includes numerous convictions, including five prior federal convictions stemming from various fraud schemes.
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