Ken Mattson, the Sonoma Valley real estate developer who is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice in connection with alleged investment improprieties, is not the only member of his family feeling the financial heat.
His wife, Stacy Mattson, was hit with two state tax liens totaling nearly $900,000 last year, The Press Democrat has learned.
California’s Franchise Tax Board issued a lien of $826,272 against Stacy Mattson on June 20, 2023, in connection to unpaid taxes for the 2018 and 2019 tax years, according to public records. A little over four months later, on Nov. 1, the state issued another lien of $62,767, this one for the 2020 tax year.
The Mattsons’ counsel, Randy Sue Pollock, said in an email that the liens were resolved last year. There is no record of that in available public documents, though there is often a time lag in the state posting lien releases.
Stacy Mattson did not respond to an email seeking comment. She filed her taxes in Solano County, where her husband has long maintained mailing addresses.
The tax lien revelation comes less than a week after the FBI raided the Mattsons’ home outside the city of Sonoma on Friday. The search warrant they served likely relates to what his longtime friend and business partner called a “secretive scheme” perpetrated by Ken Mattson.
In a pair of emails he sent to some of their investors earlier this month, former Mattson partner Tim LeFever detailed improper transactions Mattson allegedly conducted and, according to LeFever, wrongly attributed to their co-owned companies.
LeFever’s concerns focused on Divi Divi Tree, a limited partnership established by Mattson and LeFever in 2002. LeFever told an unknown number of recipients they had not purchased shares in Divi Divi Tree, as Mattson had told them. Rather, according to LeFever, Mattson was depositing their money into a personal account of his own, without informing other members of the company.
Mattson allegedly then sold his own interests in Divi Divi Tree to investors. But none of the money actually flowed to the corporation, LeFever said. He also hinted in his emails that Mattson was committing funds he in fact may not have had.
Other investors have told The Press Democrat they are worried about money that has nothing to do with Divi Divi Tree. Some recounted monthly real estate investment distributions that suddenly stopped arriving in March or April. Others cited 1031 property exchanges that Mattson organized on their behalf, but for which the investors’ names have yet to show up on property deeds.
LeFever informed investors in early April that Mattson was stepping down as CEO and CFO of LeFever Mattson. He was replaced by LeFever.
When profiled by The Press Democrat a little over a year ago, Mattson and LeFever owned at least 116 properties in and around Sonoma. Almost 90 of them had been purchased by KS Mattson Partners, which is solely controlled by Ken Mattson. Many of those properties have fallen into disrepair during their ownership, a source of alarm in the community.
You can reach Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @Skinny_Post.
Read More: Wife of embattled Sonoma developer Ken Mattson hit with $900,000 in tax liens