By Kim Minugh
kiminugh@sacbee.com
A Wilton businessman was arraigned today on charges that he embezzled more than $760,000 from nearly a dozen clients over an eight-month period last year, according to authorities.
Lonnie Crawford Nielson, 46, a part owner of the Sacramento Capitals tennis team, was arraigned on 12 felony counts of grand theft, according to a news release from the office of District Attorney Jan Scully.
Nielson also ran a business known as the "1031 Exchange." Through that operation, he temporarily accepted money from his clients' real estate property sales with the understanding that he would deposit those funds into separate and secure bank trusts, where the clients could access the money for future real estate purchases, the news release states.
Instead, the DA alleges, Nielson used the money to pay off his own debts tied to personal investments, including one he made in the Le Rivage Hotel on the Sacramento River, according to the release.
Nielson then was unable to return the money to his clients at their request, the release states.
Eleven clients were affected between May and December 2009, according to the release.
Call The Bee's Kim Minugh, (916) 321-1038.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.