Public Paying for Robert Matthews’ Legal Bills.

Robert Matthews wants some public assistance. Matthews was one of John G. Rowland’s favorites when the Waterbury Republican served as governor. The real estate developer and con man was at the center of a scheme for Rowland to sell his Washington, D.C. condominium in his first term as governor. The plan caught the attention of federal investigators and resulted in the 2004 conviction of straw man and schnook Wayne Pratt, who gained some fame and notoriety as an antiques dealer.

Matthews left Connecticut and reinvented himself in Palm Beach, a favorite haunt of shady real estate developers. He came to grief last year when he was charged, according to The Hartford Courant, with “conspiracy, money laundering and tax offenses for stealing millions from foreign investors he persuaded to invest in a moribund Palm Beach hotel-condominium project.”

The mansions and yacht are long gone. Matthews and his wife are no longer familiar figures on the Palm Beach gala circuit. There are legal bills to be paid and Matthews says he’s out of money, the AP reports. The bankrupt Matthews found a benefactor to pay a $50,000 retainer to the Connecticut firm Wiggin & Dana. Matthews needs more money for his complicated legal affairs. The public will step in to pay the freight at reduced hourly rates under the Criminal Justice Act, according to the AP.

Matthews reported having $178 in a bank account in his bankruptcy filing.