Pleasanton woman recounts ordeal with businessman now accused of running ‘Ponzi scheme’

PLEASANTON Sheryl Lawless spent months in chasing Kenneth Mattson around The Sonoma-based businessman she says owed her for selling her father s prized possession a Datsun z through his Pleasanton car consignment shop Fed up she filed complaints against Mattson with the Alameda County District Attorney s Office and the California Department of Motor Vehicles Only then did she get her money but the ordeal still gnawed at her When Mattson s Specialty Sales Classics closed last year she noted she sat back and watched the beginning of the end for Mattson Then last month the federal leadership swooped in and arrested and indicted Mattson on a slew of charges It took a while the Pleasanton resident announced but she now counts herself among the numerous casualties relieved to see a man accused of rampant fraud facing justice I m glad that it happened she noted in recent months at her Pleasanton home I m in a happier place I was really pissed off about what he put me through Mattson is now accused of running a Ponzi scheme through multiple businesses after opening the first in he received over million in startup capital from at least original investors Long accused of defrauding people in the Sonoma and Napa area the indictment declares Mattson scammed at least million out of at least casualties but people with losses could number in the hundreds according to officers Specialty Sales which also had locations in Fairfield and Benicia is not mentioned in the federal indictment but it had been the subject of Better Business Bureau complaints over late or defaulted payments Nine such complaints were filed with the bureau between September and March all of them allege that the consignment shop failed to make payments within - days of sale and detail examples of the owner not returning phone calls according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat An employee who spoke with the news outlet noted Mattson took a hands-off approach to the business except when it came to the money and estimated that more than is owed to people for cars that they have brought in to sell Records show single debts run as high as for a Corvette sold four years ago It s unclear if any of the complaints were resolved the Press Democrat announced Though shuttered last year the shop on First Street near downtown Pleasanton is still emblazoned with the Specialty Sales log When it was open it housed a variety of vintage modern and exotic cars from Mustangs to Camaros Lamborghinis Firebirds Corvettes and more The guys who worked there were awesome I don t hold them responsible Lawless disclosed They were embarrassed I really felt for them But for weeks after her car painted silver with a black stripe and red leather interior sold the workers kept telling her that only Mattson touched the money and that such delays in payment happened frequently she mentioned In her struggle to get paid she started researching Mattson more intently She began to find news articles and online reviews railing against his businesses including reviews of both Specialty Sales and his real estate company LeFever Mattson But when Mattson absolutely paid her she reported he still required her to pay a small wire transfer fee something she sees as a slight I m glad that it s hopefully going to be coming to an end Lawless disclosed I m glad that I got my money but it s really small potatoes compared to what he did to them Sheryl Lawless left and her brother Jim Lawless talk one another from the porch of her home in Pleasanton Calif on Wednesday June Lawless fought for a payment for her late father's Datsun Z which she sold through the Specialty Sales Classics car consignment shop in Pleasanton in Specialty Sales Classics' former owner Kenneth Mattson a Sonoma real estate investor was federally indicted last week on several counts of wire fraud and other charges related to a supposed Ponzi scheme he operated through his real estate businesses Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group One witness a -year-old Sonoma woman who filed testimony in federal court records against Mattson noted her father Robert Rhoads continued to invest large sums of money with Mattson almost until his death in February The worst part is that my dad admired and trusted Mr Mattson she wrote in court records He gave him every penny he had almost up to the day he died because he trusted that Mr Mattson had his financial best interest in hand Rhoads even discussed giving another from his deathbed to Mattson to invest without knowing the fortunes he invested with Mattson were never fully on the books according to court records Another -year-old retired victim wrote that they are returning to the workforce after investing over million with Mattson not knowing he was using my investments for his own benefit Now I face going back to work checking every nickel and dime I spend and selling my belongings to make ends meet I am typically an optimist in life but this has impacted me in procedures as never before they stated in court documents He necessities to face the consequences of his actions Countless of Mattson s casualties in court documents shared stories of steady checks coming in at first from Mattson noting they were reassured their money was safe with him Then all of a sudden the checks stopped coming and they stopped hearing from Mattson Several casualties had emptied their retirement funds to invest with Mattson and were left to fend for themselves with little money left to scrape by Mattson is a Sonoma resident with a wife and four children with specific grandchildren according to court documents Prosecutors argued in court after Mattson s May court appearance that he was a flight danger because of his access to untraceable or unknown assets such as large sums of cash including over ascertained in his truck when he was arrested The federal indictment also alleges Mattson began deleting thousands of files from his records after finding out in April that the Securities and Exchange Commission was reviewing his businesses Mattson s lawyers were adamant in court records that he should be allowed to post bail and that the court is treating him differently than other similar defendants accused of worse fraud At this point the assertions against Mr Mattson are just that charges Mattson s attorneys wrote in court documents The executive already has gotten a number of facts wrong