Title Closing Agent Gets 4 Years For Role In $6M+ Escrow Swindle; Ripped-Off Loot Intended To Pay Off Existing Mortgages In Real Estate Deals

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (NYC/Manhattan):

• PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, [] announced that ERIC KOPPELMAN, a former title closer, was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in a scheme to steal over $6 million in proceeds of home mortgage loans. The stolen funds were intended to be used to pay off existing mortgages on the properties. The sentence was imposed [] by United States District Judge PAUL G. GARDEPHE in Manhattan federal court.

• On June 1, 2010, IRSHAD RAMZAN, a co-conspirator and former mortgage broker who supervised the operations of Queens-based Platinum Funding, was sentenced to 84 months in prison for his role in the scheme to steal the proceeds of home mortgage loans, as well as in a separate scheme to obtain home mortgage loans from banks under false pretenses by arranging straw purchases of the homes and generating tens of thousands of dollars in unwarranted fees for RAMZAN and Platinum Funding.

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• In addition to the prison term, KOPPELMAN, 49, of Hauppauge, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release and was ordered to pay over $6 million in restitution and to forfeit various property.

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• Mr. BHARARA praised the investigative work of the United States Postal Inspection Service and thanked them for their work in this case. He also thanked Ticor Title Insurance Company of Florida for its assistance in the investigation.(1) These cases are being prosecuted by the Office's Complex Frauds Unit.

For the entire press release, see Title Closer Sentenced In Manhattan Federal Court To Four Years In Prison For Stealing Over $6 Million In Mortgage Loan Proceeds.

(1) My guess is that Ticor Title Insurance Company of Florida was the title underwriter left holding the bag as a result of the illegal conduct of the closing agent.