Summary
Former Florida attorney and title-company owner Michael Saracco pleaded guilty to three wire-fraud counts. Federal prosecutors say the scheme involved unrecorded private mortgages, inaccurate closing disclosures, diverted payoff funds and false representations about title insurance policies. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 2, 2026.
A former Florida attorney who owned a title company has pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud in a real estate scheme that federal prosecutors say exploited private lenders, mortgage lenders, escrow accounts and title-insurance representations.
Michael Saracco, 40, of Cocoa, entered the guilty pleas in federal court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced Sept. 14. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 2, 2026. Each wire-fraud count carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison, though any actual sentence will be determined by the court under federal law and sentencing guidelines.
Saracco formerly owned Driftwood Title in Cocoa and All Florida Property Solutions, according to the Justice Department. Prosecutors said he maintained Driftwood escrow accounts and carried out the scheme between August 2019 and July 2025.
How prosecutors say the scheme worked
According to court documents summarized by prosecutors, Saracco solicited loans from private lenders and funding companies that were supposed to be secured by real estate he owned or planned to purchase. He represented that properties were unencumbered, then handled closings himself through Driftwood Title.
Prosecutors said Saracco represented that mortgage documents had been recorded with the appropriate county clerk but failed to record corresponding mortgages granted to private lenders. He then sought additional financing without disclosing the pre-existing private-lender mortgages on settlement statements.
The scheme allegedly created a dangerous gap between the economic reality of the debt and what later lenders, buyers and public records showed.
When properties were sold, prosecutors said financial institutions funded buyer loans into Driftwood escrow accounts without knowing about the unrecorded private mortgages. Saracco received hundreds of thousands of dollars in seller proceeds, according to the government’s account.
Prosecutors also said some closing disclosures listed encumbrances that were supposed to be paid off but were not. Funds intended to satisfy liens were diverted to Saracco through All Florida Property Solutions, according to the Justice Department.
Title commitments are part of the case
The government’s description also reaches directly into title insurance. Prosecutors said Saracco issued title commitments stating that Driftwood had issued title insurance policies backed by title underwriters when, in fact, no such policies had been issued.
That allegation is significant for the housing industry because title commitments, payoff handling, mortgage recording and escrow controls are supposed to provide independent checkpoints in a financed real estate transaction. When one participant controls several of those functions and falsifies information across them, risks can compound quickly.
The case was investigated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Poor.
The operational lesson
The guilty plea is not evidence that ordinary title or private-lending transactions are unsafe. It does illustrate why lenders cannot treat a closing package as self-authenticating merely because the documents look complete.
Recording confirmation, lien-payoff verification, independent title-policy confirmation and segregation of escrow functions can all matter when a transaction involves private debt or multiple liens. A mortgage that was signed but never recorded can create a very different risk profile from the one a later lender believes it is underwriting.
For mortgage companies and private lenders, the case also underscores the value of post-closing collateral audits. Confirming that the security instrument actually reached the public record is a basic control, but one that becomes critical when the closing party is also connected to the borrower, seller or property owner.
Saracco has pleaded guilty, but sentencing has not yet occurred. The court will determine his sentence in December.
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