Peabody real estate agent charged with stealing deposits from clients

WOBURN – A Middlesex County grand jury indicted a Peabody woman Tuesday after she allegedly bilked clients out of more than $200,000 by using their deposit money for her personal use through her Somerville real estate office, according to a press release from the Middlesex District Attorney?s office.Farkhanda “Kandy” Tarar Shah, 61, of 13 Abby Ellen Lane in Peabody, was indicted on charges of felony larceny, fiduciary embezzlement, and for being a common and notorious thief, the press release said.Shah was a licensed mortgage broker real estate agent doing business as K-Realty, with an office in Somerville, DA spokesperson Stephanie Guyotte wrote in the release. “It is alleged that between 2007 and 2009, Shah repeatedly used her clients? deposit money for real estate purchases to pay her own business and personal expenses, rather than keeping the money secure in an escrow account, the press release said, violating state real estate law.The investigation uncovered 12 victims whose deposits totaling over $200,000 had been embezzled, Guyotte said.?Often, the seller of the property was ?under water,? that is, the transaction involved the sale of a home in which the owner?s outstanding mortgage was greater than the current value of the property,” Guyotte wrote in the press release. “Shah?s clients would seek to purchase the property in a ?short sale,? which required the mortgage holder to approve the final sales price. Such sales do not always go smoothly and frequently are not completed.On the transactions related to the criminal charges against Shah, she had already spent the money which was supposed to be held in an escrow account, by the time clients sought to get their deposit returned after the deal collapsed and she could not pay them back, Guyotte wrote.The Massachusetts Division of Licensure revoked Shah?s real estate broker?s license following complaints, and the Massachusetts Banking Commission also revoked her mortgage broker?s license, the press release said.A Middlesex Superior Court judge ordered Shah released on personal recognizance, Guyotte said Tuesday. She is due back in court June 25.Taylor Provost can be reached at [email protected].