ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A Rochester man was sentenced to 244 months in prison for his involvement in of a fraud scheme involving COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), as well as a national Ponzi scheme run out of Rochester.
Christopher Parris, 41, admitted in August 2021 that he defrauded several companies — including the Department of Veterans Affairs — by offering the sale of N95 respirator masks and PPE between February and April 2020.
Parris did not have access to those masks.
After scamming multiple organizations, prosecutors say Parris made over $7 million in upfront payments for goods he never delivered. Prosecutors called this prosecution the largest Ponzi scheme prosecution in Western New York.
One such organization was the Department of Veterans Affairs, which was offered 125 million of these masks with a $3 million price tag.
U.S. Attorney Ross said that he planned his Ponzi scheme with co-defendant Perry Santillo, who was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison in Pennsylvania after defrauding investors nationwide during a Ponzi scheme — Parris also pleaded guilty in connection to this.
A Webster resident allegedly lost more than $94,000 to the scheme, and a Victor resident lost more than $214,000.
They were looking towards retirement and now they’re in their mid-60’s and they don’t have the…
