Maryland Feds Indict Title Agent For Pocketing Escrow Proceeds, Failing To Pay Off Existing Liens; Accused Of Using "Ponzi" Method Of Hiding Bad Acts

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney in Maryland:

• A federal grand jury indicted title company owner Deborah Williams, age 56, of Pasadena, Maryland, [Wednesday] for mail fraud related to a scheme to divert settlement funds to her own benefit, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

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• According to the 15 count indictment, Williams [the sole officer and director of Day Title, Incorporated, ...] used for her own benefit settlement funds from real estate closings that were deposited in Day Title’s escrow account and were intended to pay off the lien holders on those properties. Williams attempted to conceal her illegal transactions by falsely representing on the settlement documents that her company had paid off lien holders, then sent the falsified settlement documents to the lender by commercial carrier. In fact, Williams either initiated stop payments of payoff checks that had been disbursed or intentionally failed to mail the payoff checks to the lien holder.

• According to the indictment, Day Title’s failure to make the pay offs to the lien holders was not detected until sellers began receiving delinquency notices from their mortgage companies. The time delay between the settlement and the date when Day Title made the pay offs to the lien holders allowed Williams to replenish the escrow account with proceeds from new real estate settlements.

For the U.S. Attorney's press release, see Pasadena Title Company Owner Indicted for Allegedly Defrauding Lenders of over $3.4 Million (Diverted Real Estate Proceeds to Personal Use and Created False Settlement Documents).