Title Insurance Agency Owner Gets 6+ Years After Escrow Cash Ripoff Leaves Existing Mortgages Unpaid, Unwitting Homebuyers Facing Foreclosure

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

• A title company president convicted of stealing more than $4 million in mortgage money was sentenced to six and a half years in prison on Friday. Maple Leaf Title President Anthony Weis pleaded guilty to wire fraud in November 2010.

• On Friday, his family pleaded for a punishment that didn't include prison, but the judge said she had to consider the severity of the crime. Weis admitted his guilt in court, calling his decisions horrendous and despicable.

• For more than a year, 10 Maryland families who were on the brink of losing their homes to foreclosure all dealt with Weis' company. Weis pleaded guilty to taking nearly $4 million of their money that was intended for real estate closings and using it for himself. As the victims purchased new homes with new mortgage loans, Weis' company collected funds but failed to pay off the old mortgages.

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• Weis' wife, Teresa, asked the judge for a sentence that didn't include prison. She has terminal cancer, and her husband's father has Alzheimer's disease. Teresa Weis said being in prison would be too easy for her husband. She said he should have to stay at home to care for her, his father and the rest of the family.

• Weis said in court that he tried to fix problems with his company. He said he was also trying to conceal an extramarital affair from his family and took out a $350,000 home equity loan on his parents' house by forging their signatures.

For the story, see Title Co. President Sentenced In Mortgage Scheme (Man Bilked Homeowners Out Of $4 Million).

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Towson Title Agency Operator Sentenced to Over Six Years in Prison in $3.9 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme (Failed to Make $3.9 Million in Payoffs to Mortgage Lenders Holding Liens on 13 Properties).