Closing Agent Gets 24 Months After Copping Plea To Pocketing Proceeds Of Real Estate Transactions; Insurance Underwriter Forced To Cough Up $1.2M+

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Rhode Island):

• A federal judge [last week] sentenced Angela Raposa, age 33, a resident of Riverside, Rhode Island, to 24 months in federal prison for Wire Fraud. Raposa pleaded guilty to that offense, admitting that between February 2006 and February 2007 she operated a title insurance company, Title America Closing Services, and used mortgage proceeds that were supposed to be paid to mortgage companies for her own personal benefit.

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• Raposa directed that funds which were deposited into the company escrow account not be used to pay off the corresponding existing mortgage. Instead, these funds were used to pay for various personal expenses of the defendant. Escrow funds were also used to pay off existing mortgages that were already delinquent, since they were originally not paid off in a timely fashion.

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• In February, 2007, Stewart Title uncovered the fraudulent scheme, at which time it terminated Title America as its representative. As a result of the fraudulent scheme, mortgages were not paid off by Title America with respect to five (5) real estate transactions. As a result, Stewart Title was required to pay off these amounts, which totaled approximately $1,254,324.85.

For the entire press release, see Defendant sentenced to 24 months imprisonment for Mortgage Fraud.

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