Sandgate: Malibu billionaire allegedly stole sand from public beach

The ritzy city of Malibu is famed worldwide for its golden beaches. But beneath this picture-perfect image, the community is fighting a multi-million dollar war against its rapidly-eroding shores. 

As rising sea levels wear away the coast, residents have united to fund a restoration project that pumps sand back into Broad Beach – at a cost of over $31 million. 

Now, billionaire businessman and baseball team owner Mark Attanasio has come under fire for allegedly stealing sand from Broad Beach to prop up his own $30 million mansion. 

James Kohlberg, Attanasio’s next-door neighbour, filed a lawsuit in August 2024 accusing the businessman of using construction equipment to “scoop significant amounts of sand from Broad Beach”. 

According to the California Coastal Commission, this isn’t the first time Attanasio has allegedly done this, court records show.

In 2008, the Coastal Commission sent Attanasio a notice claiming he had scooped sand from the beach for a different house he owned down the road, and constructed an illegal seawall made of sandbags along the public beach. 

“This case is about a private property owner using a public beach as their own personal sandbox,” the 2024 lawsuit stated. 

It claimed that Attanasio used “enormous excavators” to scoop sand from Broad Beach despite its “historic concerns of sand depletion”, potentially exposing local marine life to pollutants, and restricting public access to the beach. 

“Plaintiff, a next door neighbour to the offending actions, has observed and videotaped Defendants’ repeated bad acts,” the lawsuit stated. 

Photographs of the excavators at work on the beach were included in the court documents. Attanasio has denied any wrongdoing. In an email to Bloomberg, his attorney Kenneth Ehrlich wrote that Attanasio’s limited liability company “has acted in 100% compliance with all of its permits.”