Chutzpah defined: Broker defrauds couple on property deals while awaiting trial on other real-estate fraud charges

Michael David Scott, 51, of Mansfield, pleaded guilty this week to one count of wire fraud for a real-estate scam he pulled while waiting trial for a condo-flipping scheme that ultimately landed him a prison sentence of more than 11 years.

Scott was arrested on 62 fraud-related counts in 2010 related to the condo-flipping ring he led between 2006 and 2008.

Between 2011 and 2013, while awaiting trial on those charges, Scott defrauded a local couple of $199,000 in three transactions involving properties in Jamaica Plain, Roxbury and Randolph, the US Attorney's office in Boston reports:

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.

Scott's sentencing on this new charge is set for March 25.