NJ Closing Lawyer Cops Plea To Pocketing $4M In Escrow Cash; Blows Money Intended For Existing Lien Holders On AC Slots; Title Insurers Foot The Bill

From the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General:

• Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced that a Lyndhurst lawyer pleaded guilty [last week] to stealing approximately $4 million entrusted to him for real estate closings, which he used to gamble in Atlantic City.(1)

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• [Michael P.] Rumore was hired as an attorney and settlement agent for real estate purchasers. Between April 16, 2007 and August 13, 2008, he received approximately $4 million into his attorney trust account from various mortgage companies. He had a duty to disburse the funds for closings and use them to pay balances on existing mortgages and other associated costs and fees.

• In pleading guilty, Rumore admitted that he instead transferred the funds into his personal and business accounts and used them to gamble at casinos in Atlantic City, primarily on slot machines.

For the NJ AG press release, see Lyndhurst Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Stealing $4 Million in Funds for Real Estate Closings Which He Gambled in Atlantic City.

Go here, Go here, Go here, and Go here for other stories of trust account / escrow account theft of funds.

(1) According to the NJ AG press release, the plea agreement provides that the state will recommend that attorney Michael P. Rumore be sentenced to 15 years in state prison, and must sign a consent judgment to pay full restitution to the victims, which are various title insurance companies. Rumore, 50, pleaded guilty to first-degree money laundering and second-degree theft by failure to make required disposition of property received. EscrowRipOffAlpha