MD Feds: Sticky-Fingered Closing Agent Looted $3.4M In Escrow Cash, Failed To Pay Off Existing Loans In R/E Deals, Leaving Clients Facing Foreclosure

In Baltimore, Maryland, WBAL-TV Channel 11 reports:

• The target of an 11 News I-Team investigation is currently facing federal charges on accusations that he was part of a mortgage fraud scheme. The federal grand jury's 16-count indictment charged the president of Towson-based Maple Leaf Title, Anthony Weis, with wrongfully using $3.4 million from an escrow account set up by the firm in which the money was supposed to pay off his clients' mortgage loans. The indictment said he used the money for his own benefit.(1)

• When the I-Team tried to get answers from Weis in January, he said his attorney would not allow him to discuss the allegations against him or his company. Maple Leaf Title was once located at 11 E. Chesapeake Ave. The business left that location, moving to 606 E. Joppa Road before shutting down, I-Team reporter Barry Simms said. The grand jury said Weis took the funds intended for real estate closings and used the money for himself.(2)

For more, see Title Co. President Indicted In Mortgage Fraud Scheme (Anthony Weis Charged With Taking $3.4M From Escrow Account).

See also, The Baltimore Sun: Title agency head indicted on fraud charges (Homeowners were bilked of $3.4 million, federal authorities say):

• The Maryland Insurance Administration has revoked the licenses or penalized more than three dozen title and settlement companies since 2008, according to The Baltimore Sun's economic columnist, Jay Hancock. He wrote two weeks ago that complaints have jumped from 90 in 2005 to more than 600 last year.(3)

• In September, the owner of a Severna Park title company was sentenced to seven years in federal prison for bilking homeowners of $3.4 million. And in February, the owner of a Parkville title company was arrested in Palm Beach, Fla., after having been a fugitive for a year while facing federal charges that he defrauded lenders of half a million dollars. His case is pending.(3)

(1) For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Towson Title Agency Operator Indicted In $3.4 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme.

(2) "This man affected my life and a lot of other victims' lives in so many ways -- financially, emotionally, physically. Stealing our money, not paying off our mortgages and putting us through having to hire attorneys to have to represent us as victims, to getting our homes out of foreclosure because we were put in foreclosure," one victim reportedly said.

(3) See:

• Lax oversight enables title-insurance crooks,
• "Sun" Shines Light On Sticky-Fingered Title Insurance, Real Estate Escrow/Settlement Agents Victimizing Homeowners.

(3) Apparently, state lawmakers have been made aware of the closing agent problem in Maryland. See Report of the Commission to Study the Title Insurance Industry in Maryland (February, 2010 - 240 pages).