Crime & Safety

Timonium Woman Sentenced to Year in Prison in Embezzlement Scheme

Collette Snyder, 42, will spend a year and a day in prison.

A Timonium woman will spend a year and a day in prison on federal tax fraud charges, the Maryland U.S. Attorney's office announced Thursday.

Collette Snyder, 42, to charges that she embezzled $382,000 from her employer, Towson-based Maple Leaf Title, and did not disclose the money in her 2007 and 2008 tax returns.

U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake handed down the sentence Thursday morning. Blake also ordered Snyder to pay $115,529 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and spend one year on supervised release.

Find out what's happening in Towsonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Because of embezzlement by Snyder and , Maple Leaf Title's owner, the firm did not have the money to pay off existing mortgage notes on properties it helped settle, according to prosecutors.

Weis  told employees to withhold 13 loan payoff checks to mortgage loan holders after sales on the properties had closed. Weis then tried to conceal the fraud by making monthly payments to the banks. But because Weis had taken the funds out of escrow, the checks bounced. Some homeowners recieved foreclosure notices from their banks, despite believing their homes had been paid off.

Find out what's happening in Towsonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Weis was to six years in prison.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.