New York Title Company Owner Charged in Fraud Scheme

Jonathan Boxman, an owner and operator of New York-based real estate title insurance companies, was charged in federal court in Brooklyn with defrauding his companies' clients of more than $1.7 million. According to Benton J. Campbell, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Mr. Boxman — who was unavailable for comment — controlled a real estate title insurance company in New York and other title abstract companies. Through his companies and bank accounts, Mr. Boxman received fees for recording mortgages and deeds, which, in turn, he was supposed to remit to the county where the deed or mortgage was recorded. However, instead of paying the fees to the counties, he allegedly transferred the money to accounts he controlled and used it to pay his companies' operating expenses and to cover thefts from prior victims of his scheme. As a result of his alleged scheme, several mortgages and deeds were never recorded.