Community Corner

Woburn Lawyer Facing Real Estate Fraud Charges

Daniel S. Braese arraigned in federal court Wednesday.

A North Andover man who practices law in Woburn has been charged with diverting mortgage loan funds from real estate closings and misappropriating those funds.

Daniel S. Braese, 47, of North Andover, was arraigned in federal court in Boston Wednesday with two counts of bank fraud and one count of making false statements in connection with Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance.

According to authorities, while acting as closing attorney for real estate transactions, Braese received mortgage loan funds from lenders to be held in his attorney trust account and used for the closings, and he was responsible for using the loan proceeds to pay off the existing mortgages on the properties.

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But prosecutors say that he instead "diverted the mortgage funds to other purposes and falsified the loan closing documents to conceal his misappropriation of the funds," according to a statement released by the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Levenson of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit.

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If convicted, Braese faces up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine on each of the bank fraud charges and up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the false statement charge.

 


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