Minnesota Title Agent Cops Plea To Swiping $400K+ In Clients' Escrow Funds From Real Estate Transactions

In St. Paul, Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports:

• A Brooklyn Center man pleaded guilty [last week] in U.S. District Court to using as much as $1 million from clients of his mortgage title company for his own benefit. Terry Louis Lemke, 40, owns All Metro Title. He pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. As part of a plea agreement, Lemke says he knowingly and intentionally defrauded clients from June 2006 through 2007, a statement from the U.S. attorney's office said. The All Metro Title clients thought the money was being deposited into an escrow account as part of real estate transactions.

• In the plea agreement, Lemke admits to defrauding more than $400,000 and possibly as much as $1 million, the statement said. Specifically, the statement says, on June 23, 2006, Lemke electronically transferred $193,226.76 from Lehman Brothers Bank in Colorado to an All Metro Title account. On the same day, he paid $20,746.18 from the All Metro account to a personal credit card bill, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Source: Brooklyn Center title firm owner admits to fraud (As part of a plea agreement, Terry L. Lemke said he diverted money from clients to himself). EscrowRipOffKappa