Prosecutors say ex-Netflix exec did some wild stuff to buy home in Los Gatos

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Everybody knows the Bay Area housing market is nuts, but stories of the lengths to which some will go to be homeowners — even, allegedly, turning to a life of white-collar crime — really drive it home.

This week, 49-year-old former Netflix exec Michael Kail found himself in court on suspicion of defrauding the company to score nearly $700,000 in kickbacks that he used to help buy a house in Los Gatos, prosecutors allege.

Given all that alleged effort, you'd think the home in question would be pretty decadent, but based on property records and Zillow photos, it appears to be a fairly average-looking 3-bed, 2-bath single family home, built in the 1930s and boasting about 2,000 square feet.

"Bring your imagination and creativity," a listing for the home asked when it came on the market — a directive with which prosecutors allege Kail may have gotten a little carried away.

Kail is alleged to have used his position as vice president of IT for Netflix from 2011 to 2014 to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments and stock options from companies with which Netflix did business, rewarding them with contracts to perform services for Netflix in return. After leaving Netflix, he also worked at Yahoo before starting his own firm.

Companies from which Kail received stock options include Docurated, Netenrich, Platfora, Netskope, Elasticbox, Numerify, Maginatics and Sumo Logic, the indictment alleged.

After being charged with 19 counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud and six counts of money laundering, he was released on a $200,000 bond secured by the house in Los Gatos and will next appear in court June 10, prosecutors say.

And the alleged crimes may have all been for naught, because prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of the house.

Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on Twitter