A title insurance company says it was duped into wiring more than $4.1 million in real estate sale proceeds to a fraudulent bank account.
Chicago Title Insurance Company filed suit on February 11, 2026, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that an email compromise scheme led to the diversion of $4,156,888.79 from a real estate closing in Newport, Rhode Island. The defendant, Earnspark Global Concerns, is described in court papers as a Nigerian business entity. Citibank, N.A. is named as a nominal defendant, solely because it holds the New York account where the funds were allegedly sent.
The transaction at the center of the case involved the sale of property at 22-26 Memorial Boulevard West in Newport. LD Properties, LLC owned the real property, while American Bistro, LLC owned certain personal property included in the deal. The buyer, 24 Memorial Propco, LLC, was set to close on January 22, 2026, with Chicago Title handling escrow and disbursement.
According to the court filing, someone gained unauthorized access to the computers of one or more parties involved in the deal - though not Chicago Title's - and used that access to send fraudulent communications. Because the closing was conducted remotely, the parties were relying heavily on email and phone.
On January 21, 2026, Sharon Hughes, a vice president and national commercial closer at Chicago Title, received wire instructions from the sellers' counsel directing the proceeds to an account at Citibank under the name Earnspark Global Concerns. Hughes noticed the name did not match the sellers or any entity she recognized from the transaction and asked for confirmation. Sellers' counsel forwarded the request to the sellers' principal, David Butterfield. An email purportedly from Butterfield came back stating, "The wire instructions provided are accurate. This is my trust account, and I confirm that the wire may be processed accordingly." Hughes also called SCS Financial, the sellers' financial agent, and spoke with an individual who confirmed the instructions.
The next day, the closing went forward. Chicago Title released two wires - $1,368,017.39 and $2,788,871.40 — to the account.
It took more than two weeks for the scheme to surface. On February 7, 2026, sellers' counsel notified Chicago Title that SCS Financial had reported the proceeds never arrived and that Butterfield's email had been compromised before closing. Chicago Title issued a wire recall to Citibank on February 9, but as of the filing, the money had not been returned.
Chicago Title is seeking to freeze the account, recover the funds, and hold Earnspark liable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and common law fraud. The company is also asking the court to impose a constructive trust over the diverted proceeds and any assets traceable to them. No insurance policy language is at issue in the case.
No determination has been made on any of the claims. The case remains in its earliest stage.
