The Bungalows

Maybe you've been reading this WWLTV and Advocate series on Ken Matherne's animal scam in Folsom.  It's not exactly news. Matherne has been running his "attraction" for over two decades during which time many a red flag has been raised with not much consequence. The reasons for this shouldn't be too much of a mystery either.

Matherne owns a for-profit business called Global Resources LLC, which began as an oil-related business. He also owns the north shore property, which he acquired through inheritance and buying out other heirs.

He makes no secret of his wealth. In a 2001 article about the animal park, Matherne said his family's success in the oil business allowed him to retire in his early 30s. Campaign records show he's given six-figure sums to charity and to Republican political candidates, including a $100,000 donation to the Donald Trump Victory PAC in 2016. He also owns a two-story yacht, called The Boardroom, which former employees estimate was a million-dollar purchase.

We're pretty accustomed to letting our land barons do whatever they want in Louisiana, especially the ones who conduct so much oil money into politics.  In Matherne's case, it's best not to even joke about him.  In 2010, he tried to sue a northshore blogger for writing a parody story about "killer giraffes" kept on his grounds.

Usually, though, when someone is that defensive....

The incidents often took place at company parties and crawfish boils held at The Bungalows — Matherne's house on the grounds of the park — or his yacht.

“At Christmas parties, sometimes he would have girls dancing on his yacht bar, throwing money at them,” ex-employee Brett Guillet said.

Another ex-worker, Brad Nethery, said he saw Matherne engage in unwanted physical contact that included “him groping, kissing, grabbing” — behavior that Nethery said happened “at his private parties, at work, at any time.”

Anyway, obscenely weatlhy person lives on a private animal compound in a building he calls "The Bungalows."  Yeah, something creepy is probably going on.