Edgar Bronfman Sr‘s former farm manager, Michael Nemeyer, has been acquitted of eleven charges of embezzling from Bronfman, Hawes Spencer writes for The Hook. The 52-year-old had been accused of stealing $115,000 from the noted millionaire over the course of two decades of managing Georgetown Farm, in Free Union, a beef and bison farm which shut down in 2004. The jury found him not guilty on all charges, apparently leaning on the fact that Nemeyer had initially volunteered that he owed the money to Bronfman, describing them as loans. There was a lack of criminal deception and, thus, no embezzlement. One juror even argued that the case never should have made it as far as the criminal justice system.
Disclaimer: I lived next door to Georgetown Farm as a kid, I’ve had connections with members of the Bronfman/Hoffman family for many years, and Mike Nemeyer paid me a few bucks to fix his computer when I was in high school and kindly donated ~$200 to help fund my hike of the Appalachian Trail in 1996.
When I first heard this accusation about Mike Nemeyer (a wonderful employee of mine years ago), I knew that it was wrong. That has now been proven to be correct. The real crime here is that his reputation and means of making a living were undermined by overzealous prosecutors and a seemingly callous employer for something that could have been easily settled. Aside from the horrible personal toll, the waste of the court’s time is ridiculous. It seems that an apology and some gesture of restitution from Mr. Bronfman are in order.
Agreed, Linda. Forgiving the loan would suffice, I should think.