The Whistleblower
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The former top official of a real estate firm that is now under federal investigation is finally breaking his silence. And he’s talking to us.
Watch the video to find out who the whistleblower is!
“This is the first time you have spoken publicly,” asked Wayne Dolcefino.
Chris Wyatt responded, “Yes, it is.”
His name is Chris Wyatt, and he expects what he’s about to say will likely cause him trouble.
“Probably going to get sued after this interview, I’m sure,” said Wyatt.
“Then why do it,” asked Dolcefino.
Wyatt responded, “I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Wyatt is the former chief operating officer at Jetall, the Houston based real estate empire run by controversial developer Ali Choudhri, now the target of an investigation by the justice department.
Dolcefino asked, “Would you recommend anyone doing business with him?”
Wyatt responded, “No never should you do business with that guy.”
I first met Wyatt after he resigned from Jetall, we had already been airing video reports about Choudhri’s questionable real estate exploits.
But for the first time Wyatt shares publicly what he claims was the final straw before he left the company.
When asked if Ali Choudhri had asked him to lie in court Wyatt responded, “Yes. Wouldn’t do it. Couldn’t. Would not.”
It’s not the first time Choudhri has been accused publicly of being willing to lie in court.
In 2021 a three-judge arbitration panel declared Choudhri repeatedly lied under oath in a legal fight over this Galleria office building.
We once told you about Choudhri’s River Oaks mansion, but in December of 2022, Choudhri filed this sworn affidavit saying he was way more than dead broke. Minus 67 million dollars.
And if you believe the real estate developer, things have really gone downhill since. In this affidavit filed in another court this January, Choudhri now claims he’s worth minus 105 million dollars.
Wyatt doesn’t buy it.
The former chief financial officer details an alleged business practice we’ve heard before, Choudhri trying to use the local courts to financially bleed his targets dry.
“He uses other people’s money to acquire assets and then after he does that he stiffs them in court,” explained Wyatt.
“I think Ali is a very smart sophisticated guy that has really learned how to play the legal system in a way to stall things for years and years and years in court,” expressed Wyatt.
“Chris Wyatt gave you client conversations private with my client that he stole and you have them and you’ve listened to hours of my advice to my client that you electronically intercepted and now have,” said Lloyd Kelley.
Wyatt and I have now have something in common, we’re both getting sued by Choudhri or his long time lawyer Lloyd Kelley.
The guy who played imaginary basketball with me in a courthouse hallway a few years back.
Choudhri, he claims I’m part of a conspiracy to illegally record his phone conversations with Kelley.
“Oh, they were recorded at time those conversations when they were made,” said Wyatt.
Dolcefino asked, “Long before you came to me?”
Wyatt clarified, “Way before.”
We shared this shocking audio tape after it was made public, submitted as evidence in multiple lawsuits involving the Yale Street property fight. And it’s been more than curious that several local judges have chosen not to do anything about it. In fact, one judge Beau Miller has even denied motions to now depose Lloyd Kelley.
Wyatt maintains he was told to record the conversation by Ali Choudhri to use against Lloyd Kelley.
“He was going to take Lloyd Kelley down because he didn’t like Kelley and he wants Kelley taken down and he has the documents and recordings and everything to take Lloyd Kelley down,” recalled Wyatt.
The feds are simply not buying what Ali Choudhri is trying to sell either, the story that his company Jetall simply couldn’t afford to look for financial records subpoenaed twenty months ago.
“Ali Choudhri has failed to produce a single document” according to this breaking court filing by the justice department.
And the feds say Choudhri’s failure to answer or even defend the subpoena was willful.
“Either Choudhri or one of his corporate entities that he controls have been a party in more than 100 cases filed in state and federal courts. At least 16 lawsuits are going on,” read the court filing.
One of those is a 15-million-dollar lawsuit filed last July alleging bribery, racketeering, and fraud involving this failed real estate development on Yale Street.
And when Ali Choudhri loses in court as he often does a lot, we’ve noticed a curious pattern. I bet the judges have seen it too.
Choudhri and lawyers linked to him have moved to recuse a number of judges they don’t like and they have helped try to get others taken off the bench.
Choudhri’s lawyers helped bankroll Judge Brittany Morris when she ran against the incumbent judge in one of Choudhri’s cases.
Two years ago, Judge Mike Engelhart issued a 6.9 million dollar judgement against another Choudhri connected firm. Texas REIT claimed they were broke too! Couldn’t pay!
A net worth of-minus 16.5 million dollars. Judge Englehart said too bad, required a 4.9-million-dollar bond while the company appealed. Last November an appeals court said Englehart was right.
Just a few months later this veteran judge has a primary challenger, her name is Ericka Hughes.
Englehart challenged the legality of her signatures, said some were forgeries.
Her lawyer is Lloyd Kelley, whose been Ali Choudhri’s lawyer for years.
He’s the lawyer on that embarrassing audio tape with Ali Choudhri.
Maybe that’s just a courthouse coincidence but in recent court filings, Kelley alleges there’s an actual conspiracy in the democratic party to get rid of black judges.
It’s unclear just how much more of this internal fight will spill out in public.
And we’ll be watching the justice department closely. What’s their next move on Ali Choudhri?
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