Mortgage Broker / Closing Agent Cops Plea To Pocketing Escrow Funds Meant For Payoff Of Existing Lien Holders

In Palm Beach County, Florida, WPEC-TV Channel 12 reports:

• Defendant John Mohan, 38, of Delray Beach, pled guilty to one-count of wire fraud in connection with a scheme to misappropriate more than $1.2 million in client funds purportedly held in escrow for authorized real estate transactions and related expenses.

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• Mohan was a mortgage broker and closing agent who assisted buyers in real estate transactions, according to court documents. As the closing agent, Mohan would collect funds from buyers and lenders, and would represent to the parties engaged in the transaction that these funds were being held in escrow to be disbursed for various specified purposes, including the satisfaction of pre-existing mortgages. In fact, Mohan misappropriated the escrowed funds for his personal use and to make additional personal investments. Over the course of the scheme, Mohan misappropriated more than $1.2 million in client funds. In an effort conceal the fraud and prevent immediate foreclosure of the property, Mohan would sometimes make some payments on the homeowner's original mortgage.

Source: Delray Beach mortgage broker pleads guilty to fraud.

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