Former AC Transit exec convicted of stealing from Oakland church

Lewis G. Clinton, Jr., Chief Financial Officer of Alameda County Transit. Lewis G. Clinton, Jr., Chief Financial Officer of Alameda County Transit. Photo: Actransit.org Photo: Actransit.org Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Former AC Transit exec convicted of stealing from Oakland church 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The former chief financial officer of AC Transit was convicted of embezzling more than $500,000 from nonprofit groups affiliated with a prominent Oakland church.

Lewis Clinton was convicted Tuesday by an Alameda County Superior Court jury on seven charges, including grand theft, money laundering and tax evasion.

During a three-week trial, prosecutors said the 60-year-old Clinton stole $590,000 from the Allen Temple Baptist Church in East Oakland from 2007 to 2013, while he was the CFO of AC Transit.

Clinton spent the pilfered money on house loans, travel, car expenses, his children’s private school tuition, a golf club membership and other personal expenditures, according to prosecutors.

After the jury announced its verdict, Judge Scott Patton ordered that Clinton be immediately taken into custody and held without bail at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.

He had been out on $100,000 bail after being arrested and charged in April 2014.

He’s scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 8 at the Fremont Hall of Justice.

The Vallejo resident retired from the transit agency in November 2014 after being its CFO since 2008, earning $285,000 a year. He was also on the agency’s retirement board.

“Mr. Clinton was never accused of malfeasance related to AC Transit and retired from our transit agency several years ago. During his tenure, Mr. Clinton was a key member of the AC Transit Staff,” Robert Lyles, a spokesman for AC Transit, said in a statement to The Chronicle.

Lyles declined to comment on the jury’s decision.

Clinton was a member of Allen Temple Baptist Church, which has about 5,000 congregants, and served as president of nonprofits associated with the church.

From 2007 to 2013, he served as board president of two of the church’s organizations that were set up to offer housing and services to low- and moderate-income people in Oakland. Additionally, he ran the church’s foundation to accept philanthropic gifts.

Prosecutors determined that Clinton used his position to steal funds from the nonprofit groups.

Clinton’s embezzlement was discovered in December 2012 when a bookkeeper raised suspicions over ATM withdrawals from a Wells Fargo bank account. An investigation began three months later when board members found they were short of housing funds.

Sarah Ravani is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani