Ken Mattson Ordered to Give Up Deed to Piedmont House

Embattled Sonoma developer Ken Mattson continues to face the prospect of losing his properties as part of his ongoing legal troubles.

A court hearing on the terms of Mattson’s bail on Wednesday centered around a disputed piece of collateral: a home at 210 La Salle Avenue in Piedmont owned by his wife Stacy that helped secure his $4 million bail package, the Press Democrat reported. The magistrate judge, Alex G. Tse, sided with prosecutors and ordered the deed to the house into bond.

In July, Mattson’s legal team asked the court to allow him to sell two of his properties — including the one in Piedmont — in order to fund his legal bills. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nikhil Bhagat argued that the home was viable to be included as bail, while Mattson’s criminal defense attorney said it wasn’t because a foreclosure order is set to take effect Dec. 30. Mattson’s lawyers said he should be able to sell the Piedmont home as part of his 6th Amendment rights.

The criminal defense attorney, Randy Sue Pollock, asked Tse, the judge overseeing Mattson’s bail agreement, to wait until the trial judge ruled on related issues as part of the handling of the majority of the government’s case against Mattson. Tse rejected the appeal. Pollock agreed to hand over the deed to the Piedmont house by the end of the day on Friday, placing the estate with equity valued at $2 million into Mattson’s bond package.

Bhagat confirmed the house is to secure Mattson’s appearance at trial, as he was deemed a flight risk earlier this year, and that the money wouldn’t go toward restitution for his victims. If the property ends up being sold out of foreclosure, the home’s equity will go to the court clerk. Creditors for the home, valued at more than $6 million, sought to wrest control of the property by any means necessary, including eviction, the Press Democrat previously reported.

“I’m glad we finally have that lien,” Risa Meyer, who invested her money with Mattson, told the Press Democrat after the hearing. “It has been a bone of contention, and a point of fear. People have been afraid that [Mattson] would be able to remain free without ever posting bail.”

Mattson was arrested and indicted in May on nine felony counts including wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice. The Sonoma developer, who currently lives in San Francisco, stands accused by prosecutors of running a Ponzi scheme that took at least $46 million from potentially hundreds of investor clients over a period of at least 15 years.

Mattson allegedly offered and sold fake ownership interests to investors, promising legitimate investments in commercial and residential real estate. As he amassed his fortune throughout that time, he purchased more than two dozen properties in the Sonoma region worth $80 million, the Press Democrat reported. He was released on $4 million bond in late May. — Chris Malone Méndez