Bay Area Horror Flick Producer is a Nightmare for Investors

Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Aileen Yoo
sfgate.com

A Bay Area man who helped produce a horror flick
and called himself the "West Coast Donald Trump" was allegedly behind
an elaborate scam that has left investors here and other parts of the
state in financial ruins.

Jim McConville, 58, owner of the Diamond House Development
in Fremont, allegedly asked investors to use their identities to obtain
mortgages to buy undervalued condos. In exchange, he promised to pay
them $10,000. McConville never handed over the $10,000 and stopped
making mortgage payments, according to investigations by the Voice of San Diego, the San Diego Union Tribune and KGO-TV. Some people bought as many as seven condos in developments such as:

-- Kearny Mesa Townhomes, at 7555 Linda Vista Road in San Diego
-- Stonemark Homes in Fresno
-- Sommerset Villas in Escondido
-- Sommerset Woods in Escondido
-- Westlake Ranch in San Marcos
-- La Mirage in Ridgecrest

As a result of the swindle:
-- investors were left with defaulting loans and ruined credits
-- tenants living in properties that are in foreclosure may be evicted.
-- Allen Nazari was forced to shut his San Jose-based business, All American Finance, which lent at least 30 mortgages to McConville's buyers. Nazari also laid off 40 employees.

This isn't McConville's first run-in with the law. After a fire
destroyed Richmond hotel he owned, McConville kept the insurance money
he owed to lenders. In 1998, he was convicted of felony grand theft. He
spent 51 days in jail and payed $262,000 in restitution.

Ultimately, McConville made millions from his identity-real estate
scheme and lived an extravagant lifestyle that included an East Bay
ranch, sports cars, helicopter rides. He and his daughter Nicole, who
is also being investigated, poured $1 million into a movie called "Red Velvet."

Investigation, with documents, from the Voice of San Diego.

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