Long Island Closing Agent Cops Plea To Pocketing $13M+ In Refinancing Proceeds Intended To Pay Off Existing Mortgages

In Central Islip, New York, Reuters reports:

• A former president of the National Settlement Agency pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges of stealing $13 million in refinanced mortgage loan proceeds, the U.S. Justice Department said.

• Steven Leff, acting as a settlement agent for numerous FDIC insured banks, embezzled the proceeds of several refinance loans, which should have been used to pay off the outstanding principal amounts on the prior mortgages, the Justice Department said.

• "Leff was entrusted with large sums of money intended to be disbursed to others in the refinancing process. In simple terms, he stole much of it," FBI official Mark Mershon said in a statement. As part of his guilty plea entered in federal court in Central Islip, New York, Leff admitted that, in total, he stole more than $13 million in refinanced loan proceeds. Leff, 45, faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

Source: Settlement agent guilty in mortgage fraud scheme.

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