A Florida title attorney, Peter N. Price, 49, of Hollywood FL, pled guilty last Friday to charges of making false statements to HUD in the course of illegally draining his company escrow account of nearly $2 million.

As part of his plea agreement, Price agreed to make restitution his underwriter, Stewart Title Guaranty, for over $1.6 million in losses caused by Price's crimes.  Stewart has had to reimburse Price's victims for their losses.

According to the court documents and statements made during  Price's plea hearing, Price , while running a Florida title company, Intracoastal Title Services, Inc., embezzled more than $1,000,000 in loan proceeds that had been sent to his escrow bank account by clients to pay off prior mortgage loans. Instead of using the money as directed, Price prepared and sent false HUD-1 Real Estate Settlement Form, falsely reflecting the old loans had been paid.

Sentencing is scheduled for August 27, 2010, at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. District Court Judge James I. Cohn in Ft. Lauderdale. Price faces a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.