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Indicted real estate broker gets permission for island vacation - The Sun Chronicle Online - News:
'via Blog this'Ex-Mansfield man awaiting federal trial on mortgage fraud charges
MANSFIELD - A former Mansfield real estate broker under indictment for multiple counts of real estate fraud was given permission by a federal judge to travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands while awaiting trial on a massive indictment charging mortgage fraud and money laundering.
Michael David Scott, who earlier filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, asked for permission for himself, his wife and three children to travel to the island of St. John during school vacation.
Scott asked permission to stay at the Westin Hotel which overlooks a lagoon and lists minimum room rates of more than $500 a night. Court records do not indicate whether Scott and his family actually traveled to the Virgin Islands.
Scott, owner of Southeast Properties LLC, was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2010 on 62 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering in connection with an alleged long-running real estate scam in Boston's Dorchester and Roxbury neighborhoods.
Scott has yet to be tried on the charges, and remains a Massachusetts-licensed real estate broker and is continuing to conduct business, according to records on file with the state and a website connected with his business. State law does not prohibit a real estate professional under indictment from continuing to work. However, the state could take action against a broker on its own.
Dan Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation, which oversees broker licenses, said the office opened an investigation after the indictments were revealed.
However, the office voluntarily suspended its probe, so as not to interfere with the criminal case.
Scott, 46, was charged with fraud and other crimes in the alleged sale of 36 condominium units in Boston from September 2006 to April 2008.
According to the federal indictment, Scott and associates bought multiple-family dwellings to convert to condominiums, then resold individual units to "straw" buyers. While lenders were led to believe they were financing residential units, Scott recruited buyers pitching the condos as no-money down "investments" that would reap profits when the units were re-sold.
Scott and his associates reportedly bought at least 50 buildings in Boston for $26.6 million, converting them into 169 condominiums that ultimately sold for $49.8 million. Most of the units eventually went into foreclosure. Scott's Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing was dismissed recently when Scott informed the court he was unable to give testimony in the case without invoking his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination. Neither Scott nor his attorney responded to requests for comment.
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