Man pleads not guilty in real estate scam

A Cathedral City man who was on the lam in Ecuador after allegedly being involved in a real estate scam in the Coachella Valley pleaded not guilty to felony charges today and was released on his own recognizance.

Christopher Douglas Diekmann, 27, was arrested late Monday at Los Angeles International Airport. He was on the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office’s Wanted Fugitive list for felony charges including identity theft, forgery and grand theft in 2008 and 2009.