Christopher Parris, formerly of Rochester, New York, was sentenced to prison after previously being convicted of conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud related to schemes involving more than $100 million. From 2007 to 2018, Parris and a coconspirator defrauded investors after they formed a business, Lucian Development, to acquire the assets and debts of another investment company, City Capital Corporation. At the time of the purchase, City Capital was all but bankrupt, and the company’s debts far exceeded its assets. Rather than disclose the state of the business to investors, Parris went on a years-long campaign to solicit more investments to beguile current investors and convince them the company was profitable. Parris obtained at least $115.5 million from roughly 1,000 investors, using $44.8 million as a façade to pay investors phony returns while owing over $70 million in principal.
In a separate case, he defrauded the VA by attempting to sell personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic. Starting in February 2020, Parris, as owner and operator of Encore Health Group, defrauded the VA and at least eight other companies seeking to obtain scarce personal protective equipment. Parris misrepresented his ability to acquire the equipment, and falsely claimed he would provide millions of N95 masks after receiving payment upfront for brokering the deal. “The pandemic and subsequent distribution of billions of dollars in relief funds created novel opportunities for bad actors and left VA vulnerable to various fraud schemes. The vigilance and agility of our agents helped our office prevent the government and taxpayers from being defrauded of hundreds of millions of dollars,” said VA Inspector General Michael J. Missal. “We will remain proactive in looking at high-risk areas and work with our law enforcement partners to stop these schemes before it is too late.”
