Local
Michael Flavin, 38, of Quincy, admitted to two counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts real estate agent has pleaded guilty to falsely marketing properties that were not for sale and pocketing nearly $2 million in deposit checks from potential buyers.
Michael Flavin, 38, of Quincy, admitted to two counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft in Boston federal court on Friday, Acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Nathaniel Mendell’s office said. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on April 12.
Flavin’s attorney, Steven Boozang, said in an e-mail Saturday that his client has “accepted full responsibility for his actions and that “all parties have been made whole.”
Prosecutors say Flavin solicited deposits on real estate transactions by marketing numerous real estate properties that were not actually for sale.
They said Flavin executed purchase and sale agreements and received deposit checks from potential buyers, even though the property owners had not agreed to sell their properties or to sell them to those buyers.
He then forged the signatures of the sellers on the purported purchase and sale agreements, prosecutors said. From 2017 and April 2020, Flavin cashed more than 60 deposit checks totaling approximately $1.8 million.
Prosecutors say he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each charge of wire fraud.
