Skip to main content
Press Release

Former Real Estate Broker Pleads Guilty to Second Federal Fraud Scheme

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

BOSTON – A former real estate broker pleaded guilty on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, in U.S. District Court in Boston, in connection a scheme to defraud a couple of the deposit they paid to purchase three properties in Randolph, Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. 

Michael David Scott, 51, of Mansfield, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.  U.S. District Court Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton scheduled sentencing for March 25, 2016. 

From February 2011 to October 2013, Scott fraudulently persuaded a couple to sign three Purchase & Sale Agreements to buy properties in Randolph, Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.  The couple deposited $199,000 with Scott under the false promise that their funds would be held in escrow.  However, Scott immediately spent the funds for his own use.   Furthermore, Scott knew that the first property was taken off the market by the sellers, that the bank holding the mortgage had refused to approve the sale of the second property, and that he had sold the third property to someone else.  Scott never informed the couple about the status of the properties, and when they tried to get a refund of their deposits, he falsely assured them their deals were still pending and refused to return their deposits.     

The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

In a separate federal case, Scott was sentenced  on November 12, 2015 to 135 months in prison in connection with a multi-year, multi-property mortgage fraud scheme in Boston.  Scott was on pre-trial release in this earlier fraud case when he committed the aforementioned crimes.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; and Kristina O’Connell, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation in Boston, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Victor A. Wild and Ryan M. DiSantis of Ortiz’s Criminal Division.

Updated January 28, 2016

Topics
Financial Fraud
Mortgage Fraud