Sonoma real estate developer Ken Mattson, shown in 2019, is accused of defrauding investors out of millions of dollars.
A Sonoma County real estate investor indicted for defrauding investors through a Ponzi scheme is getting evicted from his sprawling Sonoma hills estate, which he allegedly bought with their money.
The agreement, approved by Sonoma County Superior Court Commissioner Daniel Chester on Thursday, forces Mattson and his wife to leave the 50-acre property by June 15. It also hands the $6 million home over to the bankruptcy estate overseeing Mattson’s former company, LeFever-Mattson, after it filed for Chapter 11 in 2024. The agreement was first reported by the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.
Mattson and his business partner, Timothy LeFever, quickly made a name for themselves by buying up a large portfolio of properties in Sonoma County worth…
PAYROLL & HR CONTROLS (PREVENTING “GHOST” SCHEMES)
Payroll fraud is often the hardest to detect because it “looks” like a normal business expense.
- Segregation of Duties (SoD): The person who adds new employees to the system must not be the same person who approves the monthly pay run.
- Mandatory Vacation Policy: Require all financial and HR staff to take 5–10 consecutive days of leave annually. Fraud often surfaces when the perpetrator isn’t there to “hide” the trail.
- Ghost Employee Audit: Perform a quarterly “Headcount Reconciliation” where managers must physically verify every name on their payroll list exists.
- Self-Pay Blocking: Ensure the payroll software has a hard-coded block preventing administrators from editing their own salary or bank details.