Following his extradition from Brazil, a U.S. citizen made an appearance in federal court in Boston last week to face charges related to a $2 million wire fraud scheme.
Christopher Morris, 48, who previously lived in Lowell and Chelsea, was brought to Boston after being extradited from Brazil. He was taken into custody after an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge M. Page Kelley. Morris was indicted in November 2014 on four counts of wire fraud and 12 counts of unlawful monetary transactions. From 2013 onward, Morris had been residing in Uruguay and Brazil.
According to the indictment, Morris worked as an accounting professional and allegedly participated in a wire fraud scheme directed at his employer, PBS Distribution (PBSd), a media distribution business with locations in Allston and other areas. His role provided him with access to U.S. mail intended for PBSd’s accounting department, including checks made out to PBSd. The indictment states that from January 2008 through September 2012, Morris obtained more than $2 million in checks by claiming he would deposit them into PBSd’s bank accounts; however, he instead endorsed them in his own name and deposited them into his personal account. To hide the theft, Morris allegedly leveraged his access to PBSd’s accounting system by fraudulently issuing credits to customer accounts whose checks he had stolen and by altering PBSd’s general ledger to reflect payments from those same customers. The indictment further asserts that Morris used the stolen funds to finance an extravagant lifestyle, including year-long apartment leases in New York City’s Greenwich Village and Tribeca neighborhoods; a down payment, purchase and maintenance of a waterfront condominium in the city’s Chelsea area; and high-end clothing, dining and travel experiences, such as a $16,000 two-week South American cruise.
Wire fraud convictions carry penalties of up to 20 years imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and fines reaching $250,000 per count. The government intends to seek dismissal of the unlawful monetary transactions charges under the Rule of Specialty, an international law principle that restricts prosecution following extradition to only those charges approved by the extraditing nation.