Ponzi schemer James Nicholson’s 21-room Saddle River chateau has sold for $4.6 million, well below the $5.75 million he paid in 2006. The house at 44 Oak Road was sold by federal marshals, along with other expensive properties owned by Nicholson, to repay his fraud victims. Nicholson pleaded guilty in 2009 to running a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme through his hedge fund, Westgate Capital Management of Pearl River, N.Y. Mike Schroeder, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshal’s Service’s Trenton office, declined to identify the buyer, and tax records did not immediately reflect the transaction. Schroeder said the contents of the mansion would likely be auctioned in coming months. Marshals put the house on the market about a year ago, starting with an asking price of $7.9 million. The asking price was later reduced to $6.3 million. The lower sale price reflects the downturn in the housing market since prices peaked in 2006, according to Nelson Chen, a Fort Lee real estate broker. “It’s clearly a huge discount, but I would expect it to trade at that level,” Chen said. North Jersey’s luxury market has been hurt by turmoil on Wall Street since the financial crisis in the fall of 2008, along with lender’s requirements that buyers of multimillion-dollar homes put down substantial down payments. The sale, Chen said, “is a clear sign that a certain discount level for quality homes, the buyer is still there.” The 9,261-square-foot house includes a four-car garage, six bedrooms, nine full bathrooms, a gym, theater, library, elevator, wine cellar and pool with cabana. Nicholson’s Ponzi scheme had more than 370 victims, most from Bergen and Rockland counties. The U.S. government says investors were defrauded of about $140 million, though a lawyer for Nicholson has argued that the real amount is about $40 million. Many Westgate investors say the fraud devastated their savings and retirement accounts. Investors hope to recoup some of their losses through the sale of Nicholson’s assets. His properties, bought a few years ago when real estate values were higher, have sold for less than what he paid: An oceanfront Southampton, N.Y., mansion Nicholson bought for $27 million sold for $25.9 million; a New York City condominium Nicholson purchased for $8.5 million sold for $6.75 million; and a Palm Beach, Fla., penthouse Nicholson acquired for $4.75 million sold for $3.3 million. Nicholson, 44, faces up to 45 years in prison at sentencing, which is scheduled for Oct.29.