A Central California man has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for defrauding investors in a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, officials announced this week.
According to a Monday news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California, Fresno resident Matthew Campbell, 43, operated two real estate companies to convince investors to give him funds to buy, sell and renovate properties since 2012. Over the course of seven years, from 2018 to 2025, Campbell swindled more than 40 investors to obtain over $9.1 million, using it in "unauthorized ways" to fund his operation, the U.S. attorney's office said. Per the release, at least $2.2 million was used to pay back old investors and keep the Ponzi scheme going. To attract new investors, he promised unrealistically high financial returns, officials said.
"Mr. Campbell took advantage of the hard-earned savings of innocent people who were trying to secure their financial futures," U.S. Attorney Eric Grant said in the news release. "By masking a fraudulent Ponzi scheme as a legitimate real estate opportunity, he violated federal law and exploited the trust of dozens of investors."
This isn't the only real estate scheme that's attracted the attention of authorities recently.
In July, an upscale interior designer in California was arrested on suspicion of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from a client. While conducting an investigation, officials from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department identified several more victims. According to a news release from the department at the time, the suspect was booked at the West Valley Detention Center and is currently facing nine felony and misdemeanor charges.
In February 2026, Campbell pleaded guilty, and a restitution hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22.
"Today's sentence ensures Matthew Campbell will pay a price for his crimes, but it cannot erase the breach of trust and financial devastation families and retirees who placed their confidence in Campbell suffered," FBI Sacramento Special Agent in Charge Brian Tosh said in the Monday news release. "Each investor believed Campbell's claim that his legitimate real estate business could offer guaranteed returns, not knowing those promises were impossible to fulfill."
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This article originally published at California man swindles more than 40 investors in lucrative real estate scheme.