Closing Agents Get 10 Years After Copping Pleas To Pilfering Proceeds From Loan Refinancings, Leaving Homeowners With Two Mortgages, Ruined Credit

In DuPage County, Illinois, the Naperville Sun reports:

• Two DuPage County women stole millions intended to refinance their clients’ home mortgages, instead using the money for personal expenses and efforts to keep their own struggling title business afloat. Homeowners, meanwhile, often were left struggling with two mortgages, foreclosure threats and plummeting credit ratings.



• Pamela Williams and Patricia Johnson [...] were each sentenced to 10 years in prison for the thefts they carried out in 2007 and 2008 while running PLM Title Company in Wheaton.

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• Williams, of Darien, and Johnson, of Naperville, pleaded guilty in April to felony theft charges as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors that limited their maximum prison terms to 11 years. The women also were ordered to pay $1.8 million in restitution, though prosecutors contended the pair likely stole more than $6 million, with thefts dating back to at least 2002.



• Williams and Johnson pilfered escrow funds primarily from clients who were refinancing existing mortgages, prosecutor Diane Michalak said.



• The money was supposed to go to pay off a client’s previous mortgage, but Williams and Johnson often used the money for personal expenses, including Chicago Bears season tickets, golf outings and paying at least $6,000 for Williams’ daughter’s wedding.



• Much of the money, though, was used to cover other refinancing deals. The women even created counterfeit bank statements and other documents to try to hide their scheme, Michalak said. “They stole over and over and over,” Michalak said. “They knew exactly what they were doing and they didn’t care.”



• Some homeowners said they still are struggling with financial problems caused by Williams and Johnson. “I have two mortgages on property now,” said Joycelyn Cole of Chicago, a U.S. Postal Service worker. “It ruined me, my credit.”

For the story, see Two DuPage County women receive 10-year sentence for mortgage scheme.