Lakeville woman accused of embezzling $220,000
The Dakota County Attorney's Office has charged a Lakeville woman with eight felony counts after she allegedly embezzled $220,000 while working as an independent real estate closer.
From 2004 to 2008, Kuntee Singramdoo, 49, worked for a Burnsville title and real estate company. She performed real estate closings, including preparing and distributing checks from the firm's trust and title insurance accounts, according to Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom.
An investigation by the Minnesota Department of Commerce revealed that Singramdoo was writing checks for her personal bills as part of real estate closings, and then entering those payments directly on mortgage forms as if the obligation was owned by the buyer or seller.
Singramdoo was also preparing real estate closing documents and later changing the forms to reflect fraudulent payments, according to the complaint. The charges say she also issued checks for payments but never gave them to the payee, and later reissued the checks to pay her own creditors.
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Singramdoo faces five counts of theft and three counts of theft by swindle, and is being held at the Dakota County Jail without bail.
"This is the fifth theft-related case exceeding $150,000 that we have filed in Dakota County this year, compared to five such cases in all of 2008," Backstrom said in a statement. "This is a disturbing trend which we hope ceases."
Singramdoo admitted to officials with the Department of Commerce that she embezzled her clients' funds by issuing checks for her own benefit, Backstrom said. Her license was revoked in March.
Her next court appearance is set for July 13.