Jul.04, 2010

BEACH, Fla. -- Three Jacksonville business executives are in jail accused of selling fake Yellow Pages ads to businesses.

Christopher Jon Gregory, Mark Stuart Smith and Marian Phelan are all charged with money laundering.  Gregory and Smith are additionally charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

The trio operates United Directories in Jacksonville Beach. A criminal complaint report filed in Atlanta accuses them of stealing over $425 million.

"Everyone involved has just been completely flabbergasted by the outrageousness of these charges," said Obie Fernandez.

Fernandez works across the hall from United Directories and co-founded his business Hashrocket, a web development company, with Smith and Phelan.

"These are folks that do not have outrageous lifestyle.  They do not have a bunch of money stocked away. They are family folks," he said.

Fernandez says the three are still in jail and are being transferred to Atlanta for another hearing, which is where the complaint was filed.