Hollywood seldom fails to bring us the most shocking, endearing, and sometimes tragic stories of all time. Back in 2010, audiences got more than a sneak peek into the personal story of businessman-turned-movie-producer Chris Mallick through the movie “Middle Men”, but what was covered by the movie wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the issues he faced not long after the movie’s premiere.
Frauds and scams, millions of dollars disappearing out of thin air, and an international scandal, are just a couple of the unfortunate incidents with which Mallick’s name and former business ePassporte have been associated for over a decade.
So what happened for Mallick to gain such a bad reputation, and how much of “Middle Men”’s story was based on his life? What’s the real story behind the ePassporte millions of dollars scandal? With us to find out!
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Who Is Chris Mallick?
Before getting into the details of the downfall of ePassporte, it’s important to know who’s the man behind it all. Born in Dallas, Texas USA into a Lebanese-American family, John Christopher Mallick, most famously known as Chris Mallick, is a businessman and producer whose failure in Hollywood and subsequent business downfall turned him into one controversial and highly hated figure on the internet.
Very few details about Chris’ personal life are known, except that he was once married and had children, all of whom were established in Houston before he moved to Los Angeles in the late 1990s for business. Some of these happenings were portrayed in “Middle Men”, the 2010 movie in which Chris invested millions of dollars, but recouped less than $1 million at the box office.
While “Middle Men” featured real-life-inspired events of Chris’ involvement with the growth of payment processor Paycom, nowadays known as Epoch, he’s more famously known for being the owner of ePassporte, a similar payment processor the run of which was cut short when VISA canceled their business connection with them. That incident led to the disappearance of millions of dollars, gaining Chris the hatred of thousands of account owners, and a hardly-erasable bad reputation in the business world.
What Happened To ePassporte?
The fallout of ePassporte happened in September 2010, when VISA suspended the e-wallet program they had. One main player in this event was St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank (SKNA), based in Curaçao, a Caribbean island where ePassporte was also incorporated. According to reports, SNKA complained about some ‘deficiencies’ in the program between VISA and ePassporte, leaving the former to pull the plug on the famous ePassporte VISA program without much more than an email statement which only left open questions.
Soon enough, ePassporte informed its account holders about VISA’s decision, but assured them that the money on the accounts was secured, despite their users’ inability to move their funds.
As Krebson Security, one of the theories regarding VISA’s sudden decision had to do with the finance giant’s then-new guidelines about pre-paid cars. However, that didn’t stop internet users from coming up with theories about ePassporte’s potential involvement with not-so-legal matters, especially considering that the platform’s main customer base was Webmasters from the adult entertainment industry. The company also had a previous run-in with the FBI for offering its services to online Poker sites.
Unfortunately, it’s unclear whether ePassporte returned some of the money locked on their system, but the company eventually shut down due to ‘circumstances out of our control’, as they announced back then.
Downfall
Seeing his ePassporte shut down wasn’t the only tragedy that Chris Mallick experienced in his life, as in August 2010 Chris’ movie “Middle Men” hit theaters, and no one was there to watch it.
http://t.co/AmfRw4q #ChrisMallick #MiddleMenMovie
— Chris Mallick Scam (@CJMallickScam) July 20, 2011
The unfortunate fate of “Middle Men” was surprising, though. Chris had been working on the movie for several years, first thinking of it as a potential TV series which told his personal story, and the birth of internet payment services through the adult entertainment industry, until director George Gallo advised him to turn it into a movie. The movie wrapped-up filming in late 2008, and saw the light of day in 2010 when it was first screened privately and even landed an agreement with Paramount.
Considering “Middle Men” ‘s budget was $32 million, and had Luke Wilson as its main star, it isn’t surprising that it awakened the interest of big platforms such as Variety and Business Insider, with the latter commenting that the movie told the story of how ‘pornographers invented E-commerce’. According to Chris, the screenings were also successful, and got him to talk with big names in the industry.
However, the movie made less than $800,000 on its first release week, and didn’t recover from that hit, even resulting in a lawsuit against Paramount. The situation wouldn’t have become such a tragedy if it hadn’t happened just a couple of months before VISA cut off their association with Chris’ company.
Was The Movie Real?
Chris Mallick’s rise and fall from business was dramatic enough to make a movie out of it, but that’s not what “Middle Men” was about. The film is based on his experience while working as a business executive in the 1990s and early 2000s, though there are fictional aspects of it as well.
According to an interview with The Film Stage, Chris and screenwriter Andy Weiss came up with the idea of creating a movie based on his personal story, yet it wasn’t until George Gallo came along that the project took-off. While in that interview Chris affirmed that only 20% of the movie wasn’t real, another article by Details magazine noted that Paycom, now Epoch, wasn’t in such a dim situation as “Middle Men” made it out to be, including the role of the company’s founders. On top of that, Chris was accused by his former associates of trying to take over the company, resulting in his eventual exile from Paycom.
Other accusations towards Chris include using company money for personal use, and using one of the founder’s addictions for his personal gain, though Chris denied those claims when interviewed by Details in 2011.
Where’s Chris Now?
Unfortunately, not much is known about Chris Mallick’s whereabouts in 2024. Following the downfall of ePassporte, he didn’t offer many interviews and eventually stepped away from public life. His production company, Oxymoron Entertainment remained active for some years, with Chris credited as a producer in several movies up to 2018.
A quick search on the internet shows that Oxymoron’s website and LinkedIn profile are still active, but not much is known about the man behind it, or the company’s current activities. It’s highly possible that either Chris jumped to another business or affiliated with a different production company to avoid the public berating that was born after his scandal, though nothing can be said for sure. Don’t hold your breath for any further disclosures!
