Couple with Kent home among victims of capsized yacht

KENT—Word has been received that two of the persons drowned when a luxury yacht capsized in Italy this week owned a home in Kent.

New York attorney Christopher Morvillo, 59, and his wife, jewelry designer Neda Morvillo, 57, are reported to have been among six people unaccounted after the 184-foot luxury yacht overturned off the coast of Sicily Monday morning. Five of the bodies of the missing were recovered Wednesday, but press reports varied as to whether the Morvillos were among them.

Twenty-two people were aboard the yacht at the time of the incident. Fifteen of the 22 people who were on board were rescued and the cook was confirmed to have drowned. According to the Financial Times, the yacht was owned by Morvillo’s client, British tycoon Mike Lynch. Lynch had reportedly arranged a festive cruise following his acquittal on charges of fraud.

Morvillo attended Canterbury School in New Milford and later Fordham University. He served as an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 1999 to 2005 and was a partner with the law firm Clifford Chance. He had extensive experience representing corporate and individual clients in white-collar government investigations and regulatory and civil proceedings.

His wife, known professionally as Neda Nassiri, ran a luxury jewelry business in the city for more than 20 years. The couple and their two daughters, Sabrina and Sophie, had an apartment on New York City’s Upper East Side and bought a $2.3 million four-bedroom, five-bathroom home in South Kent, in 2018.