James A. Thurman, 41, St. Charles, Missouri, the owner of Phoenix Title Company, St. Charles, Missouri, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in connection with allegations that he defrauded the company of $1.6 million by taking money from customers' escrow deposits.
Phoenix Title was closed down in April, 2005 and was placed in receivership after Fidelity National Title Insurance of Florida attempted to inspect its records due to rumors of missing escrow funds.
In his guilty plea, Thurman admitted that between March 2002 and December 2004 he took $3.4 million from real estate escrow deposits. He transferred the money to James Andrew GMAC Real Estate, another business that he owned. In February, he borrowed $225,000 and deposited it to the escrow accounts and replaced another $1.9 million in March by borrowing money from his parents.
The wire fraud conviction carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Thurman will be sentenced on November 18, 2005.
Rachel Dollar, the editor of Mortgage Fraud Blog is an attorney and Certified Mortgage Banker who handles litigation for lending institutions and secondary market investors.