Investors and former employees tally losses tied to a Solana Beach real estate network after a new lawsuit accused investment executive Thomas Hinson III of failing to return more than $1.66 million entrusted by Deborah Freeman. Freeman says the money came from four property sales and was meant to buy an apartment complex in Imperial County.

The complaint, filed Oct. 12 in San Diego Superior Court, accuses Hinson of fraud, breach of contract and unlawfully withholding funds. Those are allegations, not court findings. Hinson founded Investors 1031 Exchange and serves as chief operating officer of Fletcher Cove Capital, according to the complaint.

Investors Tally Losses Tied to Exchange Funds

Court documents say Freeman sold four properties between May and August, including an El Cajon apartment building and properties in Calipatria and Yuma, Arizona. The sales generated $1,661,026.32, which was transferred to Investors 1031 Exchange.

Freeman planned to use the proceeds for an apartment complex in El Centro. Under a Section 1031 exchange, a qualified intermediary temporarily holds proceeds from an investment-property sale and transfers them toward another qualifying property, allowing an investor to defer certain capital gains taxes.

Freeman alleges Hinson and his company did not transfer the money despite repeated requests from her, escrow officers and others involved in the transaction. She said Hinson first cited banking complications and promised to release the funds, then stopped responding. Without the money, Freeman said, she had to abandon the purchase.

Freeman told The Coast News she had worked multiple jobs and built a real estate portfolio for more than two decades. She said she began investing in 2001 and had completed as many as a dozen transactions through Hinson’s company over about 10 years without problems.

She told the newspaper she has no separate retirement account or savings sufficient to replace the funds. Freeman said she reported the missing money to law enforcement and federal authorities. In an email included in her lawsuit, dated Sept. 29, she asked Hinson to return it and wrote that she could not afford to lose it.

Other investors describe losses and unanswered questions

Freeman’s case adds to legal complaints involving Hinson and people connected to San Diego developer Christian Spicer. The source article reports at least 15 lawsuits against Hinson this year and says Spicer’s ventures face at least three dozen lawsuits and contractors’ liens. Those claims involve allegations of investor deception, unpaid contractors and unfinished projects.

Former employee Cameron Etienne invested $80,000 in a San Diego housing development in February 2023. The project planned renovations and rental units at a Serra Mesa property. After costs rose and the property was refinanced, an investor portal statement dated March 31, 2026, listed his contribution and no distributions.

In an email, Infill Innovation’s vice president of finance said the property sold for $2.45 million in April, but construction delays and cost overruns left the development at a loss. The email said the company would not seek additional capital from Etienne, despite documents that allowed such a request. Etienne said investors still lacked a complete accounting of expenses and rental income.

Spicer declined to comment, the source reports. The Coast News said it tried to reach Hinson through his businesses. The report also describes a darkened Investors 1031 Exchange office on Oct. 26, where no one was present.

Investors await clearer accounting

The article documents separate investor claims and company explanations, but it does not establish how all disputed funds were used. For Etienne, the reported sale and loss did not answer questions about the project’s expenses or rental income. Freeman’s lawsuit concerns money she says was intended for the El Centro purchase.

Readers considering property investments can also review rental demand and long-term property returns, technology choices facing wealth firms, and long-term investing principles. These articles address broader investment and wealth-management topics, not the allegations in Freeman’s case.