Staggering Swindle Follow-Up

Two months ago, our special investigation “A Staggering Swindle” captured the attention of San Diegans and people nationwide. It was an engrossing tale of a modern-day swindler who used batches of borrowed identities to bilk lenders and collect millions of dollars in a real estate scam that has left a disastrous trail of ruin through three San Diego neighborhoods.

Since then, the story has exploded.

Our television partners NBC 7/39 and Cox Channel 4 produced a slick nine-minute video report, taking the story to another level and exploring new angles. It was picked up, dissected and talked across the web. Reporters in other corners of California have followed with investigations of their own in other communities where Jim McConville worked real estate deals.

And we’ve followed the fallout both here in San Diego and statewide as court cases have unfolded, unwitting renters have tried to extricate themselves from the messy situation, and the losses have begun to be tallied.

So if you haven’t yet, check out the Staggering Swindle homepage for the full stories, video and follow-up.

And if you like what you see, please consider supporting our mission.

These are the kinds of stories voiceofsandiego.org exists to tell. And it took two reporters working full time for three months to put the story together, not to mention all the infrastructure and support they needed to get it done.

We are a nonprofit organization that relies on the donations of readers like you to be able to fulfill that mission — to consistently provide groundbreaking investigative reporting for San Diego.

Thanks, and stay tuned.