FundingShield Hires Charles Epperson to Lead Product as Closing Fraud Losses Mount
FundingShield, a financial technology firm that verifies where money moves during real estate closings, has hired Charles Epperson as senior vice president of product and technology, a move the company said will help pull its separate fraud-prevention tools into a single package for lenders and title firms.
The appointment, announced June 30, adds an executive with more than 25 years in mortgage and real estate technology to a company that sells its services as a defense against one of the industry's costliest crimes, the theft of funds wired at closing. Epperson's background centers on electronic transactions, e-closings, digital signatures and the data systems that connect the parties to a home sale, according to the company.
Epperson has chaired the education group and the eMortgage practice at MISMO, the mortgage industry's standards body, and co-authored its title insurance request and response standard, FundingShield said. He has also received the Mortgage Bankers Association's Tech All-Star award and a HousingWire Tech Trendsetter honor.
"Having spent time working with Charles, I am excited to welcome him to FundingShield," Ike Suri, the company's chairman and chief executive, said in the announcement. "His experience will be critical as we enter this next phase."
Epperson said in the same statement that he wants to "unify that suite into a more cohesive, client-ready offering," a reference to a product line that has grown to include several separately branded services. FundingShield's tools include Guardian, its compliance-monitoring service, a wire account verification service known as WAVS, and products for title checks and payment protection. The company says clients report returns exceeding 300 percent, though it does not publish the underlying figures.
The hire points to where FundingShield, and its market, are headed. Wire fraud tied to property deals has grown alongside the shift to digital closings, where buyers, agents, lenders and title companies exchange instructions by email and criminals insert fake payment details. Losses remain steep. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported roughly $3 billion in business email compromise losses in 2025, a category that includes the diverted closing payments FundingShield is built to stop, and about $275 million in reported real estate fraud losses.
Based in Newport Beach, California, FundingShield sells to mortgage lenders, warehouse lenders, title insurance underwriters and closing agencies. Its pitch is that it can confirm, in real time, that funds are going to the intended recipient and that the settlement agent handling a transaction is licensed and insured. That verification step sits between a lender's approval of a loan and the moment money leaves an account, the point where fraud is hardest to reverse.
Consolidating that work under one product leader suggests FundingShield is trying to move from a set of point tools toward a single system that lenders can adopt across their operations. The company competes with other closing-security vendors, including CertifID, in a market that has drawn more attention as banks and regulators press lenders to account for third-party risk.
Whether the reorganization changes FundingShield's standing will depend on adoption by large lenders, who weigh fraud tools against integration cost and their own compliance duties.
About FundingShield: FundingShield is a Newport Beach, California, financial technology company that provides wire fraud prevention, title verification and payment integrity services to the mortgage and real estate industry.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Charles Epperson and what is his new role at FundingShield?
Charles Epperson is FundingShield's new senior vice president of product and technology. He has more than 25 years of experience in mortgage and real estate technology, with a focus on electronic transactions, e-closings and digital signatures, and has chaired education and eMortgage groups at the industry standards body MISMO.
What does FundingShield do?
FundingShield is a Newport Beach, California, financial technology firm that works to prevent wire and title fraud in real estate and mortgage closings. It verifies in real time that wired funds are going to the intended recipient and that the settlement agent is licensed and insured. Its clients include mortgage lenders, warehouse lenders, title insurance underwriters and closing agencies.
How large is the wire fraud problem in real estate closings?
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported roughly $3 billion in business email compromise losses in 2025, a category that includes closing payments diverted by fraud, along with about $275 million in reported real estate fraud losses. The risk has grown as closings move to digital, email-based processes.
Why does the hire matter for FundingShield's strategy?
The company said Epperson will help combine its separately branded services, such as Guardian, WAVS and its title and payment products, into a single, more unified offering. That points to a shift from selling individual tools toward one system lenders can adopt across their operations, in a market with competitors such as CertifID.