Two DuPage women are sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to 10 counts of theft in a home mortgage scheme and ordered to jointly pay $1.8 million in restitution.

Patricia Johnson of Naperville, and Pamela Williams of Darien operated the PLM Title Company from 2005 to 2008 where they illegally used their customers money for personal expenses.

According to the Chicago Tribune, customers came to PLM Title Company looking to refinance their mortgage. The two women were suppose to take the funds issued by a new mortgage lender and pay off the customer’s first mortgage, but instead, Johnson and Williams used this money to pay personal credit card bills, one of their daughter’s wedding, and to remodel their home.

Wheaton detective David Zdan said PLM Title Company closed in April 2008 after being confronted with evidence of their stolen money. The firm even created counterfeit bank statements to cover this up in audits.

Assistant DuPage County State’s Attorney Diane Michalak said the investigation showed these women may have illegally taken $3.2 million from 2005 to 2008, but the theft may have begun as early as 2002, creating another $3 million in possible stolen money.

Some PLM Title Company customers received insurance settlements, but only after paying months of double mortgages. Many customers have not recovered from this financial loss and testified to paying two mortgages for long periods of time.