(Reuters) - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fined former Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC) & Co employee David Eghbali $85,000 and banned him from working in the mortgage industry for a year for an illegal mortgage fee-shifting scheme.
The CFPB said from at least November 2013 to February 2015 Eghbali had an arrangement with New Millennium Escrow Inc that allowed him to manipulate the prices his customers would pay for escrow services. (http://1.usa.gov/1P0WceC)
New Millennium would reduce its fees for some of Eghbali's customers and make up for its loss by adding fees to loans for other customers, the watchdog said.
The scheme ultimately increased the number of loans Eghbali closed, boosting his commissions, the CFPB said.
Eghbali, who served as a loan officer at the Wilshire Crescent branch in Beverly Hills, California, referred more than 100 loans to New Millennium, the consumer bureau said.