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Bucks Co. mortgage agent will admit $3M fraud, lawyer says

A Bucks County mortgage settlement agent was charged this week with defrauding three title-insurance companies of nearly $3 million.

A Bucks County mortgage settlement agent was charged this week with defrauding three title-insurance companies of nearly $3 million.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Philadelphia charged Alfred Drechsel, 47, formerly of Voorhees, N.J., with one count of wire fraud Thursday.

His attorney, Jeff Lindy, said Drechsel plans to plead guilty and pay back the full amount in restitution.

Drechsel was one of three principals who worked at Lenders Edge Settlement Services, LLC, and Integrity Assurance Inc., at 1200 Bustleton Pike, in Feasterville.

The companies handled closings for borrowers seeking to buy property or refinance their existing mortgages, and operated as agents for Fidelity National Title Group, First American and WFG National Title Insurance Company. At settlement closings, Drechsel was responsible for making loan disbursements according to settlement agreements.

But instead of paying off existing mortgages with the loan proceeds, Drechsel diverted the funds into Lenders Edge and Integrity Assurance bank accounts to pay off unrelated mortgages, other business expenses, and for his own personal use, prosecutors said in their charging document.

The total amount of mortgages Drechsel failed to pay off as required by the settlement statements was $2,919,186.61 during a four-month period in 2013, prosecutors said.

Lindy said his client admitted his guilt and left the companies when the fraud was discovered back in 2013.

Lindy said there was "nobody else involved" in Drechsel's fraud, and that only the title companies were affected.

"His fraud did not affect any individual homeowner looking to buy a house, looking to sell a house or looking to refinance a house," Lindy said.

A date for Drechsel's expected plea hearing has not yet been set.

shawj@phillynews.com

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