Ex-CapRadio GM is linked to $460K in questionable spending. Why wasn’t it caught?

Three entities — including Sacramento State and the California State University system — tasked with oversight of NPR-affiliate Capital Public Radio failed for years to stop the alleged misuse of funds by its general manager, now under criminal investigation on suspicion of embezzlement.

Former general manager Jun Reina is linked to spending at least $460,800 of donor money on activities, such as international travel, fine dining and home renovations, which were not backed up by expense reports or receipts, according to a 2024 forensic examination commissioned by Sacramento State, which holds the licenses for CapRadio. The radio station is an auxiliary of Sacramento State, meaning it operates as a separate nonprofit that serves the university’s mission.

A Sacramento Bee investigation found that CapRadio’s Board of Directors, Sacramento State and the CSU system had policy failures that delayed detection of Reina’s spending. They failed to prevent or stop questionable transactions that documents show to have occurred for about six years. Here are the key findings:

• Reina reported to CapRadio’s board, but its members did not review his expenses, according to a former board chair.

• Sacramento State allowed “select auxiliaries,” which included CapRadio, to manage their own day-to-day financial operations while the CSU provided oversight, according to a spokesperson. The CSU’s policy for auxiliaries says the university president provides oversight.

• CSU audits had flagged for more than two decades that CapRadio’s financial practices had problems. Despite those warnings, Reina’s behavior continued unchecked.

The nonprofit’s auditors did not flag Reina’s reported behavior for years. When presented with the details, a professor of nonprofit accounting to criticize the annual financial statements.

“I’ve never seen (such) blatant disregard for just reasonable practices,” said John Reed Smith, an accounting professor at Indiana University.

The Sacramento State administration operated with the understanding, according to spokesperson Carol Nicknig, that the CSU provides financial oversight and CapRadio leaders managed their own day-to-day operations. However, CSU policy for auxiliary organizations designates a university president responsible for “administrative compliance” and “fiscal oversight.”

A CSU spokesperson did not answer how Reina’s spending practices continued for years, but said its audit and advisory services promote accountability, transparency and risk reduction across the CSU system.

Reina’s questionable expenses date back to the tenure of Sacramento State President Robert Nelsen, who led the university from January 2015 until his retirement in 2023.

Nelsen said he took responsibility for CapRadio’s troubles. But he added he did meet regularly with CapRadio’s former general manager Rick Eytcheson, board chair and Sacramento State employees appointed to the board. He said he went to nearly every board retreat.

“The buck stops here,” he said.

The current president, Luke Wood, assumed his role after Reina left the radio station. Reina was on medical leave in May 2023, according to board meeting minutes. In June, staff were told in an email that Reina was leaving the station “to pursue other endeavors.”

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office began an embezzlement investigation, in which Reina was a subject, around 2024. Deputies forwarded their investigation this summer to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, which has said potential charges are still being considered.

The university now oversees CapRadio’s financial and accounting functions, which includes ensuring regular reconciliations and a separation of duties, Nicknig wrote.

While the university has increased scrutiny of CapRadio, problems with Sacramento State auxiliaries extend beyond Reina’s tenure and the radio station.

In 2002, a CSU audit of Sacramento State’s auxiliaries found CapRadio’s “duties and responsibilities over cash receipts were not adequately segregated.” It also found certain disbursements “were not supported by appropriate documentation.”

Last year, the CSU conducted an audit of another Sacramento State auxiliary, Associated Students, Inc., a nonprofit with reported total assets of about $18 million that offers student programs such as student government and a food pantry. The organization’s executive director — who was not identified in the audit — approved their own credit card statements without oversight, according to the report.

Who approved CapRadio leaders’ expenses?

Reina, during his more than 15 years at CapRadio, became a trusted figure, according to former employees.

“I found Jun to be a likable, highly competent, respected person,” said Jeffrey Callison, a former CapRadio employee who worked at the station from 1996 until 2011.

Reina came to the station in 2007 as its CFO. For most of his CapRadio career he was the only full-time employee in charge of the station’s books. The board approved in 2012 his ascension as CFO and COO, and eight years later he became the general manager and executive vice president.

Reina approved his own credit card statements as general manager for about three years, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to publicly comment. Also, the 2024 forensic examination noted Reina’s expenses were not backed up by expense reports or receipts prior to him assuming the top position, when he reported to then-General Manager Eytcheson.

Reina did not respond to a request for comment sent twice in December.

The CSU’s policy recommends “cash receipt and disbursements are conducted with appropriate segregation of duties,” according to its sound business practices guidelines. CapRadio’s accounting firm Propp Christensen Caniglia, which records show was contracted by the station for more than 20 years, did not flag this lack of internal controls in their public reports dated 2020-22.

The Roseville-based accounting firm did not respond to a request for comment earlier this month.

The board also had a duty to ask questions of Propp Christensen Caniglia to ensure proper internal controls were in place, said Steven Mintz, a professor emeritus in accounting at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

“They’ve already failed in their responsibilities,” Mintz opined, speaking of the board.

Nelsen added the university should have ensured proper internal controls. He said he appointed the appropriate people to ensure oversight, and was surprised to learn about Reina’s involvement in CapRadio’s woes.

“That is not a good statement from someone in my position because my job is not to be surprised,” Nelsen said. He also wondered if CapRadio’s auditors should change more frequently.

CapRadio will embark on a process this fiscal year to select a new external auditing firm. If the current firm, CliftonLarsonAllen, is selected again, “best practices” require a new auditing team to be assigned, wrote university spokesperson Nicknig.

In addition to this external review, the CSU system planned to conduct a separate audit of CapRadio next year.

Reina, while he was the general manager, reported to the board, according to an email board Chairperson Ruth Blank sent upon his promotion to the position. However, the board did not review his expenses, wrote Kim Silvers, who was CapRadio’s vice chair and chair during a portion of Reina’s time as general manager.

Silvers did not provide an explanation to The Bee of why Reina’s expenses were not checked. Since concern about Reina’s spending habits became public last year, a CapRadio spokesperson said more than 40 “corrective actions” have been taken to prevent impropriety, such as a “multi-party payment reviews” and that the board must approve non-budgeted purchases.

CapRadio’s leaders prior to Reina had some internal oversight of their filed expenses.

Former CapRadio General Manager Mike Lazar said he approved his own credit card statements when he worked at the station from 1996 to 2006. But Lazar added his statements were looked over by then-Directors of Finance Julie Chiarelli and Joan Kassis.

Eytcheson took the reins from Lazar in 2006. He filed expense reports — including receipts — detailing business purposes from 2017 until 2021. Someone who signed with a letter “J” approved these documents, according to records obtained by The Bee through a public records request.

On multiple occasions, Eytcheson’s wife was listed as a guest at hotel rooms. But records show Eytcheson would take out costs associated with her, and seek reimbursement from CapRadio for charges related to himself.

Etcheyson did not respond to a request for comment.

Previous CapRadio audits flagged problems

CapRadio’s September 2022 audit was due to Sacramento State in eight days, and its accountants encountered a roadblock.

Kyle Sorensen, a senior manager with Propp Christensen Caniglia, attached in an email a list of “open items” he requested to review as part of the firm’s annual examination. It was a lengthy spreadsheet that enumerated the need for additional documentation from meeting minutes to an explanation of income fluctuations. “That’s quite a list,” Reina responded in the email.

“We tried to be as comprehensive as possible when putting this list together so please let me know if you have any questions,” Sorensen wrote on Sept. 8, 2022.

Yet the list of requested documents makes no mention of Reina’s credit card statements. No records have been turned over by the radio station that demonstrate his credit card statements were included in Propp Christensen Caniglia’s annual financial review.

During 2022, Reina’s credit card was used to upgrade his wife’s Delta airlines ticket for $320.36, rent a car in Edinburgh for $3,027.09 and play golf at a five-star Irish resort for $177.96, according to his expenses.

In the completed 2022 financial review, Propp Christensen Caniglia did note a “significant deficiency,” but not related to Reina’s credit card charges. CapRadio’s management had not reconciled in a timely manner expenses related to its escrow accounts.

Aside from the annual financial review, the CSU’s internal auditing process also probes the 23 campuses in its system, including their auxiliaries.

The internal auditing unit has examined CapRadio six times in the past 25 years. The 2002 CSU audit had found issues with CapRadio’s cash receipts, noting a self-approval of expenses. The auditors again probed CapRadio in 2011 when reviewing all of Sacramento State’s auxiliaries. The 2011 report found that CapRadio did not appropriately document money pledged by donors.

A 2014 CSU audit also found that CapRadio did not require “travel authorization forms” to approve travel and related expenses.

Reina told auditors at the time that all travel requests were authorized verbally or through email.

“He further stated that many flights and hotels were booked by the human resources and business manager, and he stated his belief that this was a sufficient control for an auxiliary of CPR’s size,” the auditors reported.

“The absence of documented travel approval increases the risk of errors, irregularities, and misappropriation of funds,” the 2014 findings stated.

CapRadio was not again examined for another approximate eight years. In 2023, a bombshell report released by the CSU outlined widespread financial mismanagement. It was prompted by then-Sacramento State CFO Jonathan Bowman after the university said he found “inconsistencies.”

Nelsen, Sacramento State’s former president, said he requested the CSU to probe CapRadio after becoming concerned about the finances required to move its offices to downtown.

CapRadio first planned to move to 1010 8th St., but then acquired plans to rent a second building at 730 I St. The relocation efforts failed to materialize.

Nelsen said he was not told of the radio station’s plans to acquire a second building.

This story was originally published December 31, 2025 at 5:00 AM.