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Originally published Sept. 19, 2024
WHEELING, W.Va. – A Wheeling real estate developer was sentenced to five years in federal prison Thursday for fraud, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of West Virginia.
U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld says Jeffrey James Morris, 37, swindled millions of dollars from investors.
Ihlenfeld said Morris received a 60-month sentence because of his scheme to defraud investors out of more than $5 million dollars.
Morris, managing member of Roxby Development, LLC, secured local and national funding to develop real estate in Wheeling, West Virginia. He acquired the Scottish Rite Cathedral, the McClure House Hotel, and the Mount Carmel Monastery, according to court statements. Morris solicited funds from investors to improve those properties.
Ihlenfeld says Morris misrepresented how money from investors would be used, provided forged documents, lied about the prospects of securing tax increment financing, and falsely claimed to be on the verge of securing bank financing to repay investors.
Morris made Ponzi-style payments, using one investor’s money to pay another instead of making improvements to real estate as promised and lied to investors about having received approval for historic tax credits, according to Ihlenfeld.
Jeffrey Morris preyed upon his investors, his employees, and upon the hope of Wheeling residents who believed that he was leading a downtown renaissance. Morris was a master manipulator who left a trail of broken promises in his wake.
U.S. Attorney William Ihlenfeld
U.S. District Court Judge John Preston Bailey presided and made a finding that Morris caused undue financial hardship to several investors, including a retired couple who invested their entire savings with him but did not receive repayment of any principal or interest as promised.
Morris was ordered to report to prison on October 28, 2024. The facility will be determined by the Bureau of Prisons.
Morris, who previously pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of tax fraud, must pay $4,901,413.32 in restitution to investors and $526,476.58 in taxes, penalties, and interest to the Internal Revenue Service.
U.S. Attorney Ihlenfeld and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jarod Douglas prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.
The matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service-CI.