Nov. 18--A former real estate agent was trying to keep his struggling Burr Ridge agency afloat when he took money from an escrow account, his attorney said Wednesday at the start of the agent's trial of charges of felony theft.
Harry Simons, 49, is being tried in DuPage County court, accused of stealing almost $150,000 from the agency's escrow account, much of it earnest money from would-be home buyers.
Simons was charged with five counts of theft after he abruptly closed his real estate agency in 2014 and it was discovered that money was missing.
His attorney, John Paul Carroll, admitted in his opening statement that Simons did, in fact, take the money. But Simons did so in an attempt to keep the agency open, said Carroll. The attorney argued that prosecutors will not be able to prove Simons intended to steal, which is an element of the felony theft counts.
"He's not a thief. He's not a bad man. But he is a bad businessman," Carroll told jurors.
But Assistant State's Attorney Diane Michalak said evidence showed Simons had been dipping into the escrow funds for several years. Escrow accounts often hold earnest money paid as down payments for house sales. Money held in escrow cannot be legally commingled with other agency bank accounts.
When initially questioned by investigators, Simons allegedly told them, "I'm guilty -- there's no way I can fight this," Michalak told jurors.
The trial's first witness was Robert Briant, who sold real estate for the ReMax County Line agency in Burr Ridge that Simons managed.
Briant said he was "shocked" when Simons called him on Feb. 14, 2014, to say he would be shuttering the agency that day. A week later, Briant testified, he and wife, who also sold real estate, picked up Briant and brought him to the bank where the agency had its accounts.
Briant said he needed Simons to sign off on some paperwork and transfer $105,000 being held in escrow on two of Briant's pending sales. The two men were walking toward the bank when Simons told Briant the money was gone.
"All of a sudden he said, 'I can't do this anymore. There's no money,' " Briant testified.
There was only $15,000 in the escrow account, Briant said.
The prosecutor said about a dozen customers lost their earnest money. Michalak said records showed that Simons had transferred money out of the escrow account about 69 times over a two-year period, and that he allegedly told investigators "it got easier and easier" as time went by.
The trial in front of Judge Robert Miller is expected to go to the jury by Friday or Monday.
