According to an FBI press release, an escrow administrator with Chicago Title and Trust was arrested, and subsequently charged for misappropriating $50,000 from a Signature Bank account and transferring that money to a third party.
The 33-year-old Elk Grove man, Elvir Sinikovic, was picked up on Wednesday morning by special agents from the FBI. Agents from Chicago’s Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General were also called in to assist.
The former escrow specialist is charged with embezzling bank funds resulting from a wire transfer from one of the bank’s escrow accounts to another account at Chase Bank. Due to his criminal actions, Mr. Sinikovic is being held without bond facing felony charges that could carry a 30-year prison sentence if convicted.
The transfer of funds to the account holder at Chase Bank was, according to bank documents, for work on a construction project. During the investigation, detectives discovered that the transaction to the Chase Bank account holder was a fraud as that individual hadn’t worked on any construction projects. During questioning, the third party account holder told authorities that Sinikovic requested $40,000 of the embezzled money in the form of a cashier’s check, and $10,000 in cash.
During the criminal investigation, further evidence discovered may implicate Sinikovic in a plethora of similar thefts that exceed $1.5 million, but charges have not been filed at this time.
