Federal prosecutors could move this week to seize the Farmington home of Kosta Diamantis, the former high-ranking state budget official who fled to Greece to avoid sentencing on corruption charges.
Diamantis pledged ownership of his property to remain free on bond while a pair of criminal cases against him are pending. A judge is now set to determine Wednesday whether to forfeit his bail in one of the cases after Diamantis failed to appear in court.
Doing so could clear a path for the government to swiftly take title to his three-bedroom, single-family residence.
The town appraises the property at $502,500, based on its most recent revaluation in 2022. However, outstanding claims secured by the Meadow Road house — including appearance bonds totaling $1 million in his criminal cases — far exceed that amount.
Records reviewed by Connecticut Public show the government would be one of several parties seeking to recoup funds from a future sale, raising questions about how much it can recover.
Land records show a bank holds mortgages on the home. After Diamantis was indicted, he also took out loans totaling $120,000 from an acquaintance, despite signing a declaration that he wouldn’t sell the property or allow additional claims against it.
The purpose of such a restriction is straightforward, said Ian Marcus Amelkin, a Hofstra University law professor who spent nearly a decade as a federal public defender. Less equity means less financial leverage, he said.
"If you continue to remove … equity out of the home basically by adding liens, it'd be less of a stick to ensure that you return to court," he said.
Records show the acquaintance who loaned Diamantis the money was Lee Ferguson, the former longtime owner of Connecticut contracting companies Ferguson Electric and Ferguson Mechanical.
Ferguson relinquished control of the businesses and served time in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2019 to money laundering.
Reached by phone Monday, Ferguson said he previously believed Diamantis would pay him back with interest after being acquitted.
Ferguson "never thought in a million years" Diamantis would flee the country, and wishes now he had "stood back from the whole situation," he said.
"I thought of him as a friend, and I was looking to try and help him in his needs, when he was trying to get out from under this dilemma he was in," Ferguson said.
The line of lenders
A jury convicted Diamantis on 21 counts of bribery, extortion, conspiracy and lying to federal investigators in a federal corruption case centered on his work as the director of the state’s school construction program.
Diamantis, whose first name is Konstantinos, is a former state representative, and previously served as director of the state Office of School Construction Grants & Review. For nearly two years in that role, he was also the deputy secretary of the Office of Policy and Management.
He was indicted and arrested in 2024, and signed a $500,000 appearance bond secured by his primary residence in Farmington.
At the time, he had two open-end mortgages with Thomaston Savings Bank. While the remaining balance he owes is unknown, the combined maximum line of credit is $490,000.
Diamantis confirmed in a text message that he still owes money to the bank. A spokesperson for Thomaston Savings Bank declined to provide information regarding the loans, saying as a matter of policy the bank doesn't disclose information regarding client relationships, accounts or transactions.
Under the bond agreement, Diamantis promised not to sell the property, allow additional claims against it or otherwise reduce its value.
"The takeaway is that if you are to run, they can actually seize the property that you're putting up," Amelkin said.
But the following month after he signed the bond, Diamantis borrowed another $100,000 against the house from Ferguson, according to Farmington land records. Ferguson loaned him an additional $20,000 against the property later that year.
During an interview last week with Connecticut Public, Diamantis characterized the loans as an act of support from a friend.
"I think he felt bad that I was in this particular scenario," Diamantis said. "He's one of those guys who knew my reputation for all these years, and I think he was someone who believed that I wouldn't do something like that and was there to help me."
Diamantis said he worked for Ferguson's son for a short time, though it wasn't clear when or in what capacity.
Diamantis didn't respond to a request to clarify his remarks. He referred additional questions to his lawyer, Norm Pattis. Pattis didn't respond to requests for comment.
In 2019, Ferguson admitted in federal court to conducting a scheme to defraud employees by deducting fees from their benefits and steering the money to a company he controlled. He paid more than $3.3 million in restitution and was sentenced to 20 months in prison and a year of supervised release. His son has since taken over the companies.
Ferguson, who lives in Florida, said he doesn't know what role Diamantis might have had with those companies. He said that professional relationship didn't have any bearing on his decision to loan Diamantis money, which he now regrets.
"I'm truly distraught about the whole thing," he said.
The two met about eight years ago at a local golf club in Farmington, Ferguson said. After he was arrested, Diamantis asked Ferguson for assistance, and Ferguson granted him loans at an 8% interest rate, secured by Diamantis' home, he said.
Ferguson said he knew at the time there were existing bank mortgages on the property, but mistakenly believed that his claim would take precedence over the appearance bond secured in court.
"I thought I was … behind Thomaston Savings Bank, but now I find out that there is a $500,000 government lien prior to mine," he said.
Ferguson said he hasn't spoken with Diamantis in months. He now believes it's unlikely he'll get his money back, and questions how Diamantis managed to leave the country undetected.
"I was really taken back by the fact that the government basically allowed it to happen, quite honestly," he said. "I mean, I thought for sure … that they were keeping tabs on him."
'Someone would have seen it'
In 2025, the government brought additional charges against Diamantis in a separate federal criminal case. He offered the same house as security for a second $500,000 bond, even after new mortgages appeared in the land records.
It's unclear from court records what court officials knew at that time about the loans Diamantis received from Ferguson, though a mortgage recorded six days later listed both as existing claims on the property.
Stanley A. Twardy Jr., a former U.S. attorney, said prosecutors, the probation office and the defendant's lawyer typically review the proposed conditions of a bond package before submitting it to a judge for approval.
"You would think that at the time of the second appearance … that someone would have seen it," he said, referring to the private loans.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut declined to comment on whether prosecutors involved in the two criminal cases became aware of the loans, or assessed the equity in the home when evaluating bond recommendations.
The Connecticut office of U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Meadow Road home still occupied?
It's unclear who now resides at the home. No one answered the door when a reporter visited on Sept. 22. A dog was heard barking inside.
A prosecutor said in court this month federal officials visited the property and a "family member appeared to be present," though Diamantis' car was gone.
"The agents spoke to at least one family member who it's not entirely clear that they know exactly where Mr. Diamantis is," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Francis said.
Pattis, the defense lawyer, said in court that family members didn't know about Diamantis' plans to leave the country. One daughter was en route from New Jersey to Connecticut to attend the Sept. 17 sentencing hearing for her father, Pattis said.
Federal prosecutors said in court they believe Diamantis drove to Florida, took a boat to Nassau in the Bahamas, then flew to London. They believe he booked the flight about three weeks earlier.
Diamantis had surrendered his U.S. passport to probation officials, but later obtained a Greek passport. In court proceedings, Diamantis told a judge the passport wasn't in his possession because he had mailed it to Greece to facilitate a real estate transaction.
Federal officials believe Diamantis used the Greek passport to travel.
"We don't know that he is in Greece but we're willing to believe that that's the case," Francis said in court, according to a transcript.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Marshals Service violent fugitive task force in Connecticut said earlier this month the agency received a warrant to apprehend Diamantis and was beginning its investigation.
'No intentions of ever leaving'
At a hearing Wednesday, prosecutors are expected to present additional evidence that Diamantis voluntarily skipped his court appearance, a showing that's necessary to move forward with sentencing him — a step they said will aid extradition.
Francis also asked the judge on Sept. 17 to order Diamantis' bail forfeited. The judge postponed acting on the request until Wednesday's rescheduled sentencing hearing.
That order would require certain bond documents in the case to be released to the U.S. Attorney's Office. They are expected to include a pre-signed warranty deed held in escrow, which would immediately transfer title to the government once recorded, subject to any prior mortgages.
A federal judge this week was weighing a request from Connecticut Public to view the records, which have not been released.
In an interview, Diamantis acknowledged feeling an emotional attachment to the Farmington property, which had long been his home.
"I used to joke with the kids saying, 'Listen, you know, the day comes when I pass away, I was going to be buried in the backyard by the shed,'" he said. "I had no intentions of ever leaving it."
