A Glen Ellen woman who ran a residential contracting business under the names Lone Wolf Designs and LW Design Build despite never holding a state contractor’s license has been arrested and charged in Napa County in what investigators say is a scheme that has cost victims more than $1 million across Northern California.
Christina Daniels was booked by City of Napa police and faces felony charges from the Napa County District Attorney that include grand theft by embezzlement, diversion of construction funds, forgery of an endorsement, identity theft, and contracting without a license, according to court records first reported by the Press Democrat.
The Napa investigation began with a single residential remodel. Court documents describe a Napa couple who paid Daniels $478,300 for a major remodel of their home in 2024 and 2025. Detectives allege Daniels diverted some of that money to other jobs, overbilled the homeowners for materials, failed to provide required change orders when project scope shifted, and substituted unlicensed workers for the licensed labor she had been paid to provide.
Most striking, court documents allege Daniels forged the homeowners’ signatures on permit documents filed with the City of Napa — paperwork required at multiple inspection points before the city signs off on the work.
Police now believe there were many more victims like that one. Detective Darlene Elia of the City of Napa Police Department told the Press Democrat that investigators have identified 30 to 40 additional potential victims spread across Northern California, with combined losses estimated at more than $1 million.
The structure of the alleged scheme — one of the oldest in residential construction — relies on customers not checking. Anyone who hires a contractor in California for work valued at more than $500 is supposed to verify, before any money changes hands, that the contractor holds an active license issued by the Contractors State License Board. The CSLB maintains a public lookup at cslb.ca.gov that returns license number, classification, bond status, and any disciplinary history within seconds. A search there for either Lone Wolf Designs or LW Design Build, the names Daniels was using, would have returned no record.
Operating as a contractor without a CSLB license is itself a crime under California Business and Professions Code section 7028. The charge stacks: every project taken on without a license is a separate offense, and prosecutors can pursue restitution, civil penalties, and — as in this case — felony charges where the contractor’s conduct also includes theft, fraud, or forgery.
The forged-permit angle is what gives the Daniels case unusual reach. Permits are filed in the property owner’s name, and inspections are scheduled against them. If an unlicensed contractor can produce paperwork that looks authentic to City staff, both the homeowner and the city can be moving forward on the assumption that all work is being done to code by someone authorized to do it. Inspectors check the work, not the license — that part is the homeowner’s responsibility before signing the contract.
Glen Ellen sits in Sonoma County, but the alleged victim pool reaches well beyond either county. Investigators are asking anyone who paid for residential construction work performed by Lone Wolf Designs or LW Design Build, or who hired Christina Daniels for any contracting work in the past three years, to contact Detective Darlene Elia at delia@cityofnapa.org or 707-257-9672.
Daniels is presumed innocent. The charges against her have not been tested in court.
Sidebar — How to verify a California contractor before you sign
- Get the license number the contractor gives you, or get the business name they’re using. Both are searchable.
- Go to cslb.ca.gov and click “Check a License.” Search by license number, business name, or owner name.
- Confirm the license is active (not expired, suspended, or revoked) and that the classification matches the work you’re hiring for. A general “B” classification is required for any project that combines two or more trades.
- Confirm the contractor carries a bond and workers’ compensation insurance through the CSLB record.
- Look for any disciplinary actions in the contractor’s history. The CSLB record will show them.
- If you’re paying more than $1,000 in advance, California law caps the down payment at $1,000 or 10 percent of the contract price, whichever is less. Any contractor who insists on more is breaking the law.
- If something feels wrong mid-project, the CSLB’s complaint line is 800-321-CSLB (2752).
For tips on the Daniels case: Detective Darlene Elia, City of Napa Police, delia@cityofnapa.org, 707-257-9672.