The fallout of a massive fraud scheme by Marin investment managers has resulted in a $436.5 million sale of North Bay properties.
The sale involved 60 sites formerly controlled by Professional Financial Investors Inc. and its associated fund, Professional Investors Security Fund Inc. The principal, Ken Casey of Novato, died in 2020.
The properties, amounting to more than 1.4 million square feet, were sold off last month in federal bankruptcy court. They properties range from 3,500 square feet to 85,000 square feet, including 935 residences and approximately 680,000 square feet of commercial space.
“It’s one of the biggest portfolio sales in our county’s history,” said Haden Ongaro, executive vice president with the Newmark Knight Frank real estate firm.
At the height of the scam, Casey and business associate Lewis Wallach had accumulated 80 large properties: 29 in Novato, 10 in Sonoma and the remainder scattered throughout Marin.
Wallach pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in 2020. He admitted to being aware that the companies had ceased to be profitable, but continued to obtain properties and assure investors of their financial stability. The companies took on new investors whose payments were used to pay interest to existing investors.
All 60 of the properties sold in bankruptcy went to two affiliated Bay Area-based national real estate firms, Hamilton Zanze and Graham Street Realty, and a New York-based investment firm, Davidson Kempner Capital…
