Attorney charged in alleged condo-flipping scheme

The US Attorney's office in Boston today named Michael R. Anderson, 41, of Framingham, as a player in a scheme to profit through bogus financing deals on 27 Dorchester and Roxbury condos by forging mortgage applications from people who had no plans to actually live in the units.

In an "information" in US District Court in Boston, the government allege Anderson - who practices in Stoneham - worked with Michael David Scott, a Dorchester real-estate broker indicted last month on 62 federal counts related to the alleged scheme. In a statement, the US Attorney's office says:

"The Information alleges that Anderson caused mortgage loan proceeds to be disbursed to Scott. In most instances, the straw buyers obtained residential mortgage loans for properties that they never intended to live in. While the lenders (mortgage companies and one bank) were led to believe they were lending to residential purchasers who had made substantial down payments, the developer and others recruited buyers by representing the purchases to them as a no-money-down 'investment' opportunity. The 'investors' were assured that they would not have to make any down payments, pay any closing costs, or pay expenses relating to the maintenance of the units, but would share in profits when the units were sold."

The "information" - sometimes a prelude to a plea deal - charges that Anderson worked with Scott on six of the eight buildings in Dorchester that Scott is charged with trying to flip: 78-80 Granger St., 365 Centre St., 81 Spencer St., 10 Navillus Terrace, 5 Parkman St. and 7 Parkman St.

Three-decker bingo: Lenders continue to pump big money into condos despite foreclosure histories - Dorchester Reporter investigation from 2008.


Subscribe to the Dorchester Reporter