Couple Convicted In Project Swindle

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- A Wayzata couple has been found guilty of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from an office development project in Orono.

Prosecutors say the swindle also played a role in the demise of First Commercial Bank of Bloomington, which loaned about $3 million before the project came to a halt in 2008.

Philip and Virginia Carlson were each found guilty of five counts of theft by swindle by a Hennepin County District Court jury Wednesday.

The Carlsons were developers and general contractors for the Amber Woods office building. County Attorney Mike Freeman says they were funneling money through a company they owned which wasn't doing work on the project while failing to pay the companies that had done work on the development.

Sentencing is set for Oct. 30.

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