David J. Szempruch, 54, [former] attorney, Naples, Florida was sentenced to 3 ½ years in state prison after pleading no contest to two counts of grand theft and one count of forgery in connection with his diversion of approximately $338,000 from clients in connection with a condominium sale. Szempruch has also been disbarred. He was also ordered to pay $55,000 in restitution to his victims within five years of his release from prison.
Szempruch was accused of borrowing $130,000 from one woman and $200,000 from another– allegedly for a real estate investment. As collateral, he gave each mortgages against his property but had forged signatures on partial releases in order to record the later mortgage. In fact, he needed the money partially to cover a $190,000 shortfall in his trust account that should have contained funds for a condominium closing.
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.