The investigation into the crumbling LeFever Mattson real estate empire has taken a surprising turn toward family.
The Press Democrat reports a bankruptcy judge has authorized a subpoena for Kathleen Hamlin, the eighty-three-year-old mother-in-law of company co-founder Tim LeFever. Creditors allege the firm transferred more than two-point-four million dollars to Hamlin, including over one-point-six million in the year leading up to the company’s bankruptcy filing.
Attorneys representing over six hundred investors are searching for the missing funds, which they believe may have been funneled through family members and private nonprofits. While co-founder Ken Mattson faces federal “Ponzi scheme” and wire fraud charges, Tim LeFever has not been charged and maintains he was also a victim of Mattson’s actions.
Hamlin has until late January to provide documents and testimony regarding the transfers.
