Former BestBank owner Edward Mattar, facing 14 years in prison and the forfeiture of millions of dollars at his fraud sentencing Friday, chose instead to leap from a 27th-story window.
The Denver coroner’s office identified Mattar’s body through fingerprints and ruled the death a suicide late Friday.
At 3:40 a.m, Mattar, 68, smashed a window with a hammer at his home at the Apartments at Denver Place, 1880 Arapahoe St. He then jumped, landing in the courtyard in front of the building.
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The banker’s 2 p.m. hearing in U.S. District Court in Denver was canceled, and prosecutors eventually will dismiss the charges.
“Suicide is a terrible thing, whenever it happens,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Haried said. “That’s all you can say about it.”
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Harrison Greene worked for Mattar at Central New England College for more than three years as director of admissions and then dean of institutional relations. He then worked at Mattar’s for-profit Nasson College.
“He was one of those guys, 20 percent of the things he taught me were lifelong business lessons I’ve continued to use,” Greene said Friday. “The other 80 percent, I wish I’d never heard.”
Greene said Mattar “managed people through intimidation,” once giving him an illustration of a dying apple tree with just one piece of fruit left. The caption was “the tree with the best apples gets the worst beating.” [This is an axiom that all stock and commodity operators are very familiar with. Gold bugs; take note— Kevin]
He expressed surprise Friday that Mattar killed himself.
“He had a tremendous fear of death.”
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