Former Fox & Friends host Clayton Morris has left the United States and moved his family to Portugal while facing more than two-dozen lawsuits alleging he committed real-estate fraud.
Morris has been accused by investors of running a Ponzi scheme, selling them homes in Indianapolis with promises to fix up the properties—rehabilitation efforts that the investors said never happened. According to the Indianapolis Star, the investors “accuse Morris and [business partner Bert] Whalen of covering their tracks by providing fake leases and sending rent checks even though the properties were vacant. Many of the investors say they only discovered the truth when they began receiving code violations and condemnation notices from the city.”
Morris and his wife, former TV anchor Natali Morris, told the Indianapolis Star they plan to fight the lawsuits from abroad and blame Whalen and his company Oceanpointe for the investor losses. “In my clients’ opinion, innocent people don’t flee the country,” said one attorney representing several of the plaintiff investors, according to the Star.
In a lengthy online post, Morris’ wife said her husband’s “residual 'fame' from his former career as a news anchor” has led to unfair accusations against him. “Watching him endure this has felt like what I would imagine it is like to watch him endure chemotherapy,” she said, explaining that their move to another country was simply for his mental health.
Read it at Indianapolis Star
