BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts real estate agent has pleaded guilty to falsely marketing properties 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 federal court in Boston on Friday, said Nathaniel Mendell, acting US Attorney for Massachusetts. He is due to be sentenced on April 12.
Flavin’s attorney, Steven Boozang, said in an email on Saturday that his client “took full responsibility for his actions and that “all parties have been sanctioned.”
Prosecutors say Flavin solicited deposits for real estate transactions by listing numerous properties that were not actually for sale.
They said Flavin executed purchase and sale contracts and received deposit checks from potential buyers, even though the owners had not agreed to sell their properties or sell them to those buyers.
He then forged the signatures of the sellers on the alleged purchase and sale contracts, the prosecutor said. From 2017 to 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 on each wire fraud charge.
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