By: Rich Bergeron
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| Chris Matters (above) may just be coming up on the sunset of his con artist lifestyle |
Chris R. Matters, AKA Christopher Ryan Matters, AKA Kris Watters maintained a long friendship with my friend and Norwich University "rook buddy" Matt over the course of two decades before recently double crossing him on a $60,000 "investment." Rather than admit he screwed up when confronted with evidence that he was lying about where Matt's money went, Chris insisted if Matt lawyered up, he would just declare personal bankruptcy to evade judgment.
Chris didn't insist, "I'm innocent. I didn't do anything wrong." He announced his obviously pre-meditated plan to duck any legal case that might be launched against him. This is the kind of pattern that shows me he's probably been down this fraudulent road before.
This all started with a $60,000 investment in what was supposed to be a house flip opportunity. Chris strung Matt along and ultimately admitted he couldn't get the house flip done. Then he pretended Matt had a new legitimate interest in a hemp farm in Mississippi. Promises of "the check is in the mail" never panned out. Excuse after excuse came for why the money wasn't flowing in yet.
Matt's research later proved that the hemp farm didn't exist.
Chris' company Matters Properties, Inc. did have a chapter in Mississippi, but the license for that chapter of the business has been revoked. Here's Chris (calling himself Kris "Watters" now) commenting on a 12-year-old Facebook memory highlighting how he became the owner and CEO of his "Matters Properties, Inc." business:
"It’s been a good ride! On the verge of a few big deals in the coming months I’ll talk about when ink is wet!"
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Chris has since deleted his Facebook profile. His page there being under another name than his own is just the tip of the red flag iceberg here. He was also out there privately telling his friends he was broke and can't pay my friend Matt while he was also taking pictures of himself out there on a speed boat and telling everyone publicly about how he's living the good life:
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| Chris "Kris Watters" Matters living his best life. |
The "ink" never seems to be wet enough for Chris to write even the smallest check to my friend Matt. There is a stack of associated paperwork to verify the money changed hands for a planned investment. It now appears no investment was ever made by Matters with Matt's money to actually benefit Matt. Instead, another friend insisted Chris went to a few casinos with him at the time and always had big rolls of cash on him. Was this how Matt's investment was handled? If so, this site will serve as a warning to anyone thinking about working with Matters/Watters anytime soon. Our goal is to be a public service announcement of sorts warning folks not to trust this man with your money.
Is Matters out there claiming to be a multi-millionaire real estate mogul to get the money he gambles with? The poster reports making a few phone calls to reveal that Chris "usually has some big claims of money earned/tied up in escrow from real estate investments or deals that are closing." Sounds like a one-man Ponzi scheme to me. Except, nobody gets paid with the new investor money in his case.
High performance race cars are expensive to get involved with, and who knows where Matters got the money to back a racecar team? If he can't even take care of a $60,000 debt, he obviously isn't rolling in the dough anymore.
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| Matters is apparently feeding himself well off the profits from false promises to his victims. |
He may also be operating under the "
Matters Consulting" Business name. Please avoid doing any business with this guy.
Stay tuned to this space as we fully document this sideways business deal and how Chris R. Matters used a string of lies to defend his fraudulent behavior over the last few years. This is despite the fact that we were both graduates of a very prestigious military school with an honor code, and he also served in the Navy. The Norwich University Community should be on notice that this individual is not living up to the values he was supposed to learn and internalize while attending our alma mater, and he should not be trusted. Yet, he seems to be proudly wearing his Norwich school ring at the gambling table in the above photo.
UPDATE:
My friend Matt recently filed a formal lawsuit in Florida against Chris Matters and his corporate interests. Chris has so far dodged service to the point of actually vacating his place of residence there. Neighbors told the process server that Chris moved to Las Vegas. Sounds like the perfect place for a guy who likes to gamble with other people's money. Read the full legal complaint here:
Visitors So Far:
If you were a victim of Chris R. Matters yourself, please contact Rich.Bergeron@gmail.com to report the circumstances. I will publish your stories here. If you have any information that could lead to a criminal prosecution of Chris Matters for his fraudulent behavior, use the same email address above to contact us.
