A federal grand jury has indicted Daniel E. Fink Jr., age 43, of Baltimore, for wire fraud and money laundering. Fink owned and operated Homemaxx Title & Escrow LLC (Homemaxx), a title company that conducted residential real estate closings with offices in Middle River and Parkville, Maryland. From February 2003 to July 2004, Fink is alleged to have caused Homemaxx to fail to pay outstanding first mortgages on real estate transactions or to record deeds in the real estate records of local and state governments.

[Press Release]

Fink allegedly transferred substantial amounts of money from a Homemaxx escrow account into other Homemaxx accounts, as well as to accounts not associated with Homemaxx, and used the money intended to be disbursed pursuant to a HUD-1 for personal expenditures unrelated to real estate transactions. In connection with a particular real estate refinancing transaction by one of his customers, Fink diverted funds from the escrow account and then used the proceeds of his fraud scheme to purchase a new 2004 CLK Mercedes. As a result of this scheme, Fink is alleged to have defrauded lenders and homeowners of more than $500,000. The indictment seeks the forfeiture of this amount.

Fink faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the three counts of wire fraud and 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for money laundering. Fink is a fugitive.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. An individual charged by indictment is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty at some later criminal proceedings.