Businessman Gets 4-Year Sentence for Embezzlement

An Orange County businessman was sentenced Thursday to four years in prison after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $1 million from fellow members of the Mormon Church, prosecutors said.

David Schelin, who lives in the exclusive Coto de Caza enclave, betrayed the trust of nearly 300 Mormon couples who believed that they were investing their savings in real estate, Deputy Dist. Atty. Daniel B. McNerney said.

The money was initially invested in projects to buy and resell property, but officials later learned that Schelin was skimming a total of more than $1 million to invest in oil and gas leases in his own name, McNerney said.

Schelin, who has no prior criminal record, pleaded guilty to seven felony grand theft charges, the prosecutor said.

Santa Ana Municipal Judge Richard W. Stanford Jr. sentenced Schelin to four years in prison and fined him $1.1 million. Schelin faced a maximum sentence of nine years in prison.

McNerney said the victims hope to receive restitution from Schelin. The church members were particularly vulnerable because they knew and trusted Schelin, who was considered a well-regarded businessman by his fellow churchgoers, McNerney said.

“When you invest with someone you don’t know very well, there is a tendency to be more skeptical, to ask more questions. But these people considered Mr. Schelin part of their church. They relied (on him) and trusted him,” McNerney said.

Schelin’s defense attorney did not return a phone call seeking comment.