Medical Exec Receives 78-Month Sentence for Fraud, Embezzlement

A former executive for Metropolitan Urological Specialists received a 78-month prison sentence Friday after admitting to embezzling millions of dollars from the company. 

Dunard Morris was sentenced on three felony counts of mail and wire fraud after pleading guilty to the charges in September. He was also ordered to pay $5.6 million in restitution. 

Federal Prosecutors said Morris repeatedly increased his own base salary from MUS, without authorization or disclosure to shareholders, and granted himself hundreds of thousands of dollars in unauthorized, undisclosed  bonuses and reimbursements.

Metropolitan Urological Specialists has an office on the campus of Mercy Hospital St. Louis in Creve Coeur.

The indictment points to a high-flying lifestyle for Morris, who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on meal and entertainment expenses incurred at local restaurants.

"He was like the Godfather," Carmelo Gabriele, co-owner of Il Bel Lago in Creve Coeur told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch when Morris was indicted in the spring  known for its martinis and veal chops. "Sometimes, he'd be in here at noon and out at 10," Gabriele told the paper.

He also used company funds to purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars of costly assets and services, including high-end jewelry, luxury automobiles, expensive firearms, designer clothing, fine wine, national and international travel and other items, for the benefit of himself and others; and paid $5,400 per month in rent charges for a luxury apartment.

Metropolitan Urological has offices thoughout the St. Louis area, including at St. Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield, in Crestwood, Florissant in addition to the Creve Coeur location.