The Wells Fargo executive who threw lavish, loud parties at the foreclosed Malibu Colony home during the summer has been fired.
By Jonathan Friedman / Special to The Malibu Times
International media attention has had its eye on Malibu this past week, and it has had nothing to do with a celebrity. The focus came late last week when it was revealed a Wells Fargo executive had allegedly been living in and throwing parties at a multimillion dollar Malibu Colony home that had gone into foreclosure to the bank after the owners had lost a large sum of money in the Bernard L. Madoff scam.
The alleged high-life squatter, Cheronda Guyton, was fired by Wells Fargo this week following an investigation. The bank issued a statement to the media about its decision on Guyton, who served as senior vice president, responsible for foreclosed commercial properties.
“Our investigation concluded a single team member was responsible for violating our company policies,” the statement read. “As a result, employment of this individual has been terminated. We deeply regret the activities that have taken place as they do not reflect the conduct we expect of our team members. We continue to place the highest value on honesty, trust and integrity to guide our team members in making business decisions each day.”
Wells Fargo spokesperson Pia Hahn told The Malibu Times she could not elaborate on what Guyton was discovered to have done because details of the investigation are private. But published reports have quoted Malibu Colony residents stating they saw Guyton and her family spending weekends and hosting parties at the home formerly owned by Lawrence and Linda Elins. The neighbors also said a yacht was anchored off the coast from which guests would be ferried to the shore for parties at the house. The Times’ attempts to contact Guyton were unsuccessful. She had not been quoted in any media as of Tuesday afternoon.
The property, a three-bedroom, 3,800-square-foot home that was valued at $12 million when it was transferred to Wells Fargo is now on the market with a $21.5 million price tag. Hahn told The Malibu Times that although the property was signed over to Wells Fargo in the spring, it was not immediately put up for sale because of the terms of an agreement between the bank and the Elins. It was an issue that riled local Realtors, including Irene Dazzan-Palmer, who had tried to lease the house for the Elins. Dazzan-Palmer told the Los Angeles Times that there were interested buyers but Wells Fargo did not want to show the home.
“Wells Fargo is moving forward with marketing the property for sale,” Hahn wrote in an e-mail to The Times. “ These plans were already underway when the allegations surfaced.”
This story first broke last Friday, and has been picking up steam ever since. Articles have appeared in newspapers and Web sites throughout the world, and national and international television networks have been doing segments on the situation. A Tuesday afternoon Google search for Malibu revealed hundreds of stories on the subject. This included many columns and articles putting Malibu in its often-stereotypical light of being a closed-off, wealthy community. But Mayor Andy Stern said he is not worried about the city’s image.
“It’s not bad press for Malibu,” Stern said. “Malibu is in the press dozens of times every day, whether it’s a celebrity going to dinner or many other situations. It’s just another Malibu story in the news.”
Stern added that the situation is not a “city issue.”