From Kelly Bennett at the voiceofsandiego.org:
This time three years ago, we were working on an investigation into why more than 80 condos in North San Diego County fit an odd pattern of extravagantly high purchase prices and near-immediate foreclosure.
Today, the man at the center of what Will Carless and I uncovered in our “A Staggering Swindle” investigation pleaded guilty to federal charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud.
Jim McConville went up and down the state for a few years last decade, convincing dozens of people to rent him their identities. He used their credit scores to dupe banks into granting mortgages to those individuals, often buying a handful of condos (whose prices had been artificially inflated) at once in one person’s name. The purchase prices we found in North County at apartment-turned-condo complexes in Escondido and San Marcos were way higher than what the market should’ve warranted in the middle of 2008.
McConville then kept the difference between what he’d agreed to buy the condo for and the loan the bank approved. His company captured more than $120,000 out of each of the transactions he did here. In just three complexes in San Diego County, McConville pulled out more than $12.5 million, according to developer records we analyzed.
Because now-government-controlled mortgage banks Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae bought the loans after lenders made them, taxpayers are on the hook for a big chunk of the losses accrued when the condos went into foreclosure.
Several other defendants have already pleaded guilty to lesser charges. McConville is scheduled to be sentenced on April 18 in the Bay Area.
If you’re just catching up on the story, here’s a link to our initial investigation and the pieces we’ve reported since then.
According to this news coverage, he is facing 6.5 to 9 years in jail, which means he could be out in as little as 4 years or so.
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/video?id=8519150&pid=8519098
I wonder where the money went???
money probably went to meth and ladies I imagine.
Sadly white collar crime sometimes pays extremely well, and attributing unaccounted for booty to drugs/gambling etc. is standard MO. Millions in gold can be easily purchased and hidden.
He wasn’t the only one doing this. A good friend went to a “Seminar” where they proposed this same scam and promised a lovely return. I talked to him at some length and he decided to pass. These fraudsters are very good salesmen, but if you keep in minfd that a deal that is “Too good to be true” IS too good to be true you won’t get burned.
Jim, could you check the first comment on your “Third Party Advertising” post when you have some time? The reason I think it has something to do with the first comment is that I haven’t been able to load the comment page from the time there was only one comment left on the post.
I’m getting blocked by my security software and when I checked the link in FF I can see that there’s a 1×1 pixel gif that is preventing Kaspersky from letting me through to the page. I think it was called a “squark” and it showed a referring URL back to your homepage. Now, I have no doubt that you have nothing to do with it, I can read comments on all your other posts and I’ve had the same thing happen on (oddly) other RE blogs that I read.
I doubt that it’s terribly dangerous, just a tracking cookie that somebody wants to set for whatever reason, because I didn’t get a pop-up warning but Kaspersky is super sensitize to a lot of stuff so it just stops the page from loading.
Anyway, no big deal, just a little frustrating for me and others might want to clear their cookies tonight before logging off.
Apologies if I offend whomever the first commenter was, I’m just guessing that they’re the cause. Hopefully it wasn’t left by a known and trusted poster.
Sorry, it’s “quirks” not quark.
Try it again – I removed the second comment – no offense bottomfisher!
The money probably went to women, booze and lawyers. He probably has some it stashed somewhere.
But as you said, us sober folks are the ones stuck with trying to clean up the mess.
Unless human nature becomes universally good, we need reasonable regulations and enforcement.
what puzzles me is why he didnt take the money, change his name to Con McJimville and emigrate to Accupulco before they caught him? Stupid arrogance?
Sorry, it’s still there. Anyway, it looks like most people can read and comment so just leave it be, they’re normally time sensitive and expire in a few days. I’lll try to remember to try it again next week, thanks for trying!