Welcome to The Home Equity Theft Reporter, a blog dedicated to informing the consumer public and the legal profession about Home Equity Theft issues. This blog will consist of information describing the various forms of Home Equity Theft and links to news reports & other informational sources from throughout the country about the victims of Home Equity Theft and what government authorities and others are doing about it.
Sunday, January 03, 2016
Real Estate Paralegal Admits To Using Her Access To Law Firm/Employer's Closing/Escrow Account To Glom Almost $440K (And Then Failed To Pay Income Tax On Purloined Proceeds)
From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Wilmington, Delaware):
[P]enni Enama, age 50, of Lewes, Delaware, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, [...] and one count of tax evasion, [...]. Enama, who will be sentenced on March 23, 2016, at 2 p.m. [...] faces a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and 3 years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.
According to statements made at the plea hearing and documents filed in court, Enama was employed by a law firm in Delaware, for approximately two years when, in May 2007, she began embezzling funds from the firm’s escrow account.
Enama was a real estate paralegal, and she used her access to a closing escrow account to divert at least $439,824.40 to her personal use. Enama fabricated additional real estate closing parties in the firm’s records, and she used the additional funds to pay her personal credit cards and/or deposit the funds into her personal bank accounts. Enama did not declare the embezzled funds on her federal income tax returns for the 2011-2013 tax years.
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