BROWARD TITLE LAWYER SENTENCED TO 46 MONTHS IN JAIL
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Henry Gutierrez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, and J. Thomas Cardwell, Commissioner, State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation, announced that defendant Peter N. Price, 49, of Hollywood, Florida, was sentenced on Friday, August 27, 2010, by U.S. District Court Judge James Cohn to 46 months in jail, to be followed by three years of supervised release. The Court also ordered Price to pay $1,712,766.92 in restitution to Stewart Title Guarantee Inc.
Price was charged with making false statements to HUD, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001. According to the criminal information and statements made during plea hearing, Price, a title attorney, operated Intracostal Title Services, Inc., a title company in Hollywood, Florida. According to statements made in court, Price embezzled more than $1,608,246.57 in loan proceeds from his escrow account on real estate closings he was handling on behalf of clients. This money was sent to Intracostal’s escrow bank account by clients to pay off prior mortgage loans. Instead of using the money as directed, Price prepared and sent a false HUD1 Real Estate Settlement Form, falsely reflecting the old loans had been paid.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, FBI, and the State of Florida Office of Financial Regulation. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey H. Kay.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
