<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1NWpmt_0wBCpSdL00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1NWpmt_0wBCpSdL00" width="555" height="312" ><figcaption>(© Tryfonov – stock.adobe.com)</figcaption></figure>A UVA Football alum who had a brief stint in the NFL before a successful career as a real estate developer was indicted on charges that he embezzled loan proceeds intended for the development and construction of two commercial real estate projects.Christopher A. Harrison, 52, of Washington, D.C., is alleged to have induced and misappropriated loan proceeds intended for the development and construction of real estate projects in Richmond and Winston-Salem.As outlined in the indictment, Harrison allegedly secured loans from Cedar Rapids Bank &amp; Trust for $14,492,057 for the Model Tobacco Project in Richmond and $7,706,675 for the Whitaker Park Project in Winston-Salem.Under the terms of the loan agreements, Harrison, who has a degree from the McIntire School of Commerce and a master’s in education from the Curry School of Education at UVA, would have been prohibited from using loan proceeds to pay himself or affiliated entities any construction, management, development or contractor fees or from using the loan proceeds for personal expenditures.Prosecutors allege that Harrison skimmed loan proceeds intended for the Model Tobacco and Whitaker Park Projects by first creating a straw demolition company, Virginia Demolition LLC, that had no employees, demolition equipment, or office space. Harrison then allegedly created forged and falsified documentation purporting to show that Virginia Demolition LLC did actual work on the projects, including work that predated Harrison’s creation of the Virginia Demolition LLC entity.Harrison allegedly forged the signature of a separate individual, who Harrison falsely represented was the “President” of Virginia Demolition LLC, multiple times across Harrison’s various submittals to CRBT. He also is alleged to have doctored and inflated invoices in the name of a separate construction vendor for Model Tobacco, inducing CRBT to disburse inflated loan amounts.In total, Harrison allegedly submitted over a dozen falsified invoices and lien waivers in draw requests to induce CRBT to disburse over $3.6 million in loan proceeds to Harrison to satisfy purported expenditures.Harrison allegedly used some of these loan proceeds for his own benefit, rather than applying them to the Model Tobacco and Whitaker Park Projects as required. As alleged in the indictment, Harrison used some of the money he stole for the following personal purchases and expenses, among others:<ul><li>Numerous purchases at luxury goods and fashion stores, including over $60,000 in payments to Lenkersdorfer Fine Jewelers to buy Rolex watches.</li><li>Personal expenses, including his home mortgage, landscaping services for his residence, and tuition and tutoring expenses for his minor child.</li><li>Expenses related to a separate construction project — the Petersburg Ramada Inn. Harrison allegedly used fraud proceeds to pay legal fees to a law firm for Harrison’s litigation against the City of Petersburg pertaining to the project. Harrison purchased the property in 2018 and sold it back to the City of Petersburg in 2022.</li></ul>Harrison is charged with:<ul><li>wire fraud and mail fraud, which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.</li><li>engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived property, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.</li><li>aggravated identity theft, which carries a two-year mandatory minimum prison term.</li></ul>According to a glowing profile of Harrison written by Jeff White for the VirginiaSports.com website in 2017, Harrison enrolled at UVA in 1990, and was on Grounds and with the UVA Football program for six years, redshirting as a freshman and taking a medical redshirt year in 1993 after suffering a broken leg in practice.Harrison, according to the profile, launched his career in real estate after his brief two-game NFL career had wrapped, purchasing, renovating and flipping a block of run-down houses in Washington, D.C., his hometown.</div></body>

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UVA Football alum Chris Harrison indicted on embezzlement charges

A UVA Football alum who had a brief stint in the NFL before a successful career as a real estate developer was indicted on charges that he embezzled loan proceeds intended for the development and construction of two commercial real estate projects. Christopher A. Harrison, 52, of Washington, D.C., is...