SEC v. Kenneth Mattson; and KS Mattson Partners LP, No. LR-26312, Northern District of California (May 23, 2025) — Press Release

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26312 / May 23, 2025 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Kenneth Mattson and Relief Defendant KS Mattson Partners LP, No. 3:25-cv-04387 (N.D. Cal. filed May 22, 2025) SEC Charges Former Real-Estate Investment CEO with Operating Multimillion Dollar Ponzi-Like Scheme On May 22, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged San Francisco Bay Area resident Kenneth Mattson, the former CEO of real estate investment business LeFever Mattson, with defrauding approximately 200 investors of at least $46 million by selling them fake interests in real estate investment limited partnerships. Many of these investors were retired senior citizens Mattson met through his church community. According to the SEC’s complaint, LeFever Mattson managed legitimate limited partnerships that invested in residential and commercial real estate, and that were owned by a set of real investors. From approximately 2007 to April 2024, Mattson allegedly offered and sold fake ownership interests in these limited partnerships to defrauded investors. According to the complaint, the fake sales were not reflected in the legitimate records of ownership, and investors who purchased the fake interests never became actual limited partners or received ownership rights. Instead, Mattson allegedly commingled new investor funds with personal and business funds and used the commingled funds to make Ponzi-like payments, gave defrauded investors false tax records, and misappropriated investor funds to pay for personal expenses and real estate transactions and expenses related to his personal partnership, KS Mattson Partners LP. The complaint further alleges that Mattson solicited investors to transfer funds from their individual retirement accounts (IRA) to so-called self-directed IRAs, enabling them to invest in the purported limited partnership interests Mattson offered and sold. These purported sales were not recorded in LeFever Mattson’s books and records, and these investors did not become actual limited partners, according to the complaint. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, charges Mattson with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, including a conduct-based injunction, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and an officer-and-director bar. The complaint also names KS Mattson Partners LP as a relief defendant and seeks disgorgement of its ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Duncan C. Simpson LaGoy, Natasha Bronn Schrier, and Michael Foley and was supervised by David Zhou and Jason H. Lee of the San Francisco Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Mr. Simpson LaGoy and Ms. Bronn Schrier.

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26312 / May 23, 2025 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Kenneth Mattson and Relief Defendant KS Mattson Partners LP, No. 3:25-cv-04387 (N.D. Cal. filed May 22, 2025) SEC Charges Former Real-Estate Investment CEO with Operating Multimillion Dollar Ponzi-Like Scheme On May 22, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged San Francisco Bay Area resident Kenneth Mattson, the former CEO of real estate investment business LeFever Mattson, with defrauding approximately 200 investors of at least $46 million by selling them fake interests in real estate investment limited partnerships. Many of these investors were retired senior citizens Mattson met through his church community. According to the SEC’s complaint, LeFever Mattson managed legitimate limited partnerships that invested in residential and commercial real estate, and that were owned by a set of real investors. From approximately 2007 to April 2024, Mattson allegedly offered and sold fake ownership interests in these limited partnerships to defrauded investors. According to the complaint, the fake sales were not reflected in the legitimate records of ownership, and investors who purchased the fake interests never became actual limited partners or received ownership rights. Instead, Mattson allegedly commingled new investor funds with personal and business funds and used the commingled funds to make Ponzi-like payments, gave defrauded investors false tax records, and misappropriated investor funds to pay for personal expenses and real estate transactions and expenses related to his personal partnership, KS Mattson Partners LP. The complaint further alleges that Mattson solicited investors to transfer funds from their individual retirement accounts (IRA) to so-called self-directed IRAs, enabling them to invest in the purported limited partnership interests Mattson offered and sold. These purported sales were not recorded in LeFever Mattson’s books and records, and these investors did not become actual limited partners, according to the complaint. The SEC’s complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, charges Mattson with violating Sections 5(a), 5(c), and 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC seeks permanent injunctions, including a conduct-based injunction, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, civil penalties, and an officer-and-director bar. The complaint also names KS Mattson Partners LP as a relief defendant and seeks disgorgement of its ill-gotten gains with prejudgment interest. The SEC’s investigation was conducted by Duncan C. Simpson LaGoy, Natasha Bronn Schrier, and Michael Foley and was supervised by David Zhou and Jason H. Lee of the San Francisco Regional Office. The litigation will be led by Mr. Simpson LaGoy and Ms. Bronn Schrier.