Phony Attorney Pockets $150K+ Home Sale Proceeds; Fails To Pay Off Existing Mortgage, Leaving Owner In Foreclosure

In Staten Island, New York, the Staten Island Advance reports:

• The son of a retired judge is accused of pretending to be an attorney in order to sell a woman's home, then keeping the money for himself. Police say Renauld Gregg, 29, the son of retired administrative law judge Ronald Gregg, played the role of an attorney well enough to close the sale of an acquaintance's Stapleton home -- then kept the $156,877 and left his victim in foreclosure.

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• He was successful with the sale, police say, but didn't use the $156,877 in proceeds to pay off Ms. White's mortgage, instead keeping the cash for himself. Ms. [Robina] White discovered her home had been sold when she received a notice of foreclosure, said [District Attorney Daniel] Donovan's spokesman, William Smith. The lender stopped foreclosure proceedings after learning Ms. White was the victim of a crime.

• Gregg was arraigned [Thursday] on charges of second-degree grand larceny, unauthorized practice of a profession and resisting arrest. The most serious charge carries up to 15 years in prison for a conviction at trial.

For more, see Will Imposter Attorney Defend Himself? (Judge's son held in fraud; cops say he sold restaurateur's home, then kept the money).

Go here, Go here, and Go here for other stories of trust account / escrow account theft of funds. sneaky slick escrow agents gamma