Title attorney Alan Mason’s longtime headquarters at 428 Shrewsbury St. in Worcester sports ownership lineage involving family members and close associates. Mason is being investigated for a series of real estate deals and loans in Worcester County.
With his license to practice law recently suspended, title attorney Alan Mason is being investigated for a series of real estate deals and loans in Worcester County, according to industry sources. Also saddled with a multimillion-dollar state tax bill and facing charges of assaulting a fellow barrister, Mason reportedly is being pursued by state and federal agencies concerning property transactions involving his wife, mother and several associates, including longtime employee Jamie Brown.
“The house of cards is falling down,” opined one source who indicated that the assets of interest are mostly in central Massachusetts, primarily in the city of Worcester. Among the issues said to be under scrutiny are whether funds intended to pay off mortgages were diverted to acquire more real estate or for other investments, the accuracy of certain property valuations and whether false documents were filed to support untoward activity. Suspension of Mason’s law license was ordered earlier this month by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court based on a complaint the attorney misused a client’s funds tied to a real estate deal in Leominster.
Reached last week by telephone, Mason said he is unaffected by the suspension because he retired last year and resigned prior to the SJC action. The Princeton resident also concurred that he has shunted mortgages between family members and moved ownership of assets about to keep ahead of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, but insisted none of the actions are improper. “I’m a very straightforward guy,” Mason told Banker & Tradesman. “I don’t play games.” While acknowledging inquiries by the Massachusetts State Police, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service, Mason said he is “on solid ground” with his real estate business and predicted the tax issue will be resolved on appeal over the near term.
It is unclear exactly which real estate transactions have been called into question, but a review of Worcester County Registry of Deeds records by Banker & Tradesman does show prolific real estate activities by the supposed targets. Brown, who last year admitted forging a document stating Mason had performed community service assessed to settle the assault charge, is manager of various trusts that have conducted rapid-fire transactions involving Beverly A. Mason and Frances Mason, Alan Mason’s wife and mother, respectively. Among other entities, Brown is manager of Sea Green Properties and 94 Cranberry Lane Realty Trust. Formed in 2002, 94 Cranberry Lane Realty Trust does not list Alan Mason as an officer, although he acknowledged his involvement with that entity to the point that the DOR has included income from that trust in the tax bill.
In one transaction reviewed by Banker & Tradesman, Frances Mason agreed in July 2004 to acquire 4 Wescott St. in Worcester for $119,000, assuming two mortgages totaling that amount held by the sellers. Listed on the quitclaim deed as notary public, Brown then assumed the mortgages from Mason and acquired the property two months later for the same $119,000 through Sea Green Properties. That Worcester-based entity then traded 4 Wescott St. in late October 2004 to Allen J. Seymour, a local businessman, who assumed the original loans and then obtained a $178,000 loan at the property from Option One Mortgage. Seymour subsequently sold the property to Daniel Salamone in November 2005 for $240,000, a deal backed by a $216,000 loan from Accredited Home Lenders Inc.
Brown is listed as notary public on various Salamone documents, while Alan Mason shows up as a witness. Salamone, who registers Taunton as his home, has acquired other assets filtered through the Masons and Brown, including 300 Malden St. in Holden, while Seymour has similarly been involved in multiple transactions with Alan Mason and his associates. It is unclear whether either are part of any investigations. Efforts to contact Seymour, Salamone and Jamie Brown by press deadline were unsuccessful.
Claims and Courts
Alan Mason’s longtime headquarters at 428 Shrewsbury St. in Worcester also sports ownership lineage involving family members and close associates. Joseph Stano of South Yarmouth, the live-in companion of Frances Mason, purchased 428 Shrewsbury St. last March for $567,000 from Alan Mason and his 428 Shrewsbury Realty Trust, a property conveyed by Jamie Brown and her JM Realty Trust in December 2004. The same 428 Shrewsbury St. Realty Trust had purchased the asset in October 1998 for $315,000, backed by a $267,000 loan from Commerce Bank & Trust. Alan Mason’s trust took on another $200,000 loan from GMCR Capital of Boston in June 2004 before transferring 428 Shrewsbury St. to JM Realty Trust in September 2004 for $467,000.
In the latter sale, JM Realty Trust agreed to take on the loans from Commerce and GMCR Capital, which were then spirited back to 428 Shrewsbury St. Realty Trust when it reacquired the building three months later on Dec. 10, 2004. The 428 Shrewsbury St. Realty Trust also agreed to pay another mortgage of $250,000 taken out by JM Realty Trust in October 2004 from Beverly Mason for a total consideration of $717,000. When Stano took control of 428 Shrewsbury St. last March, he agreed to assume the original Commerce mortgage and another $300,000 note taken out by Mason and the trust from GMCR Capital in December 2004. The mortgage from Beverly Mason was discharged on Dec. 10, the same day it was assumed by 428 Shrewsbury St. Realty Trust.
Such ownership machinations were to keep the DOR at bay while he appeals the tax bill, according to Alan Mason, noting that the agency has placed liens on “everything” he has ownership of, even though he disputes the DOR’s $2.8 million tally, among the biggest individual tax debts owed the state. Mason calculates, he would have had to earn $40 million to reach the DOR figure. “I can assure you, I haven’t made $40 million,” said Mason, who put the amount owed closer to $300,000, adding that he has been making regular payments during the appeals process.
Alan Mason defended the ownership shifts such as that conducted at 428 Shrewsbury St., but agreed it is unclear whether agencies such as the DOR might consider the efforts legally forbidden. “They may claim that, but they will have to go to court to prove it,” he said. Alan Mason described Jamie Brown as an “old employee.” Last September, Alan Mason and Jamie Brown were listed as managers of the newly formed Lunar Title LLC, but his name was removed from operation in late October.
Also unsettled is an assault charge by Mark Grilla, who alleges that Alan Mason, now 60 years old, attacked him in November 2004. A deal had been crafted whereby the accused was to perform 10 hours of community service, which he ostensibly did by assisting the running of New England Relay for Life, a charitable event involving Brown’s sister-in-law. In an article last November in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, it was revealed that Brown signed the sister-in-law’s name to a document indicating Alan Mason had worked the required hours off by helping the event last summer when he allegedly had not participated. The news prompted a judge to re-open the assault case, which Alan Mason said is currently pending.
As for the real estate activity, Alan Mason said the FBI and IRS did appear to be focused on his own deals during their interviews, even though some sources say they believe such agencies are pursuing other players active in Worcester County’s once-hot real estate market. Alan Mason also said there may have been instances where “T’s were not crossed and I’s were not dotted” which could lead investigators to pursue a case against him, but stressed he is not overly concerned. “If they are looking and they really want to, they can always find something [to allege] Â… but I haven’t done anything illegal,” he said.
Even after abandoning his legal practice and despite the legal wranglings, Alan Mason pledged he will continue to be a presence in Worcester County. “I just bought two more [properties] today,” he said.
