Former Connecticut Resident Admits Operating Investment Scheme

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOSEPH T. MORRIS, 52, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., formerly of Connecticut, pleaded guilty today in Bridgeport federal court to operating an investment scheme that defrauded individuals out of approximately $175,000.

According to court documents and statements made in court, MORRIS and two other individuals formed a company in October 2011 to develop business opportunities in Iraq.  The company’s initial focus was on establishing a pizza restaurant at the U.S. Consulate compound in Erbil, Iraq, and establishing a business to distribute and install specialty window film on vehicles and at hotels, residences, and government buildings, which would protect windows and windshields from blast and breakage, and provide heat retention, ultra-violet shielding, and privacy.  MORRIS was the company’s in-country manager in Iraq.

In pleading guilty, MORRIS admitted that he made numerous fraudulent representations to his co-founders regarding the restaurant and the window film business, knowing that the representations would be communicated to potential investors to induce them to invest in the company.  Through the use of fraudulent emails and photographs, MORRIS falsely represented that a lease had been signed to establish a pizzeria on the U.S. consulate compound in Erbil, that renovations were underway, and that progress was being made toward completing renovations and opening the restaurant.  MORRIS also falsely represented that the company had an exclusive arrangement with a specialty window film manufacturer to distribute and install the window film in all of Iraq.  Based on these misrepresentations, MORRIS caused approximately a dozen investors, most of whom were U.S. military veterans, to invest approximately $175,000 in the company.  Instead of using the money from investors to pay for legitimate business expenses, MORRIS diverted large sums of money for his own personal use.

The scheme was revealed in late April to early May 2012 when one of the co-founders discovered that the company did not have a lease or agreement to open and operate a pizza restaurant at the U.S. consulate compound in Erbil and that the company did not have an exclusive arrangement with a window film manufacturer to distribute and install specialty window film in Iraq.

MORRIS pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.  He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer on September 17, 2015.

This matter has been investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the Wilton Police Department, and the Connecticut Financial Crimes Task Force, which includes federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Neeraj N. Patel.