James and his wife Susan McDougle became involved in a crooked land scheme (Whitewater Scandle) involving Bill and Hillary Clinton as partners. Eventually, this swindle came under investigation. When it did both Susan and Jim were subpoenaed to testify against the Clintons. Susan refused and went to jail for almost two years. She never did testify and with the passing of time, the issue was no longer pertinent, thus, her release. Jim cooperated. When he did the whispers around Washington D.C. and Arkansas was that he would not live long in custody. And that’s just what happened, he was found dead in his cell. The authorities and media waved off the rumors and said that he was old and died of natural causes (he was 57). This is exactly like Jeffery Epstein, an unnatural death.
Background, The Swindle: The above mentioned four and some others, purchased a plot of land and told investors that they were going to develop it as vacation cabins sites. People who could not qualify for loans to purchase land/homes when the purchase was financed through a bank, could purchase at Whitewater with very little down and monthly payments. It was a “contract” purchase, meaning that the developers carried the loans on paper. The purchaser never acquired any ownership of the land. The land belonged wholly to Whitewater, the purchaser would not acquire the land until it was paid off in full; until then all the purchaser owned was a piece of paper. Even if they failed to make the very last payment, all of their monies would be forfeited. Whitewater accepted almost any offer, took the down payment, and waited for the monthly payments. Because the purchasers were not qualified in the first place, most fell behind. When they missed two payments the “contract” was foreclosed. Because it was not a real estate deal, there was no recourse for the purchasers. They lost their down payment and all of the monthly payments up until the foreclosure. This type of real estate dealing is outlawed in many states and because of this abuse, Arkansas followed suit.
In addition to this, it was discovered that Whitewater, sometimes using other names, would purchase a plot of land e.g. for $250,000. They would have a crooked land appraiser appraise the plot and would get a new (worthless) value, e.g. $4,000,000. They would then get a loan for the $4 million and soon afterward default on the loan and keep the balance. The government agency which guarantees this type of deal would then pay off the lender, which just happened to be a loan company owed by the McDougles.
You might expect that there are some safeguards built into these types of deals. Well, not much. But it did require a crooked Judge to sign off on the obviously bogus contracts. Judge David Hale went to prison for various dealings with the Clintons and McDougles. He struck a plea bargain and was ready to testify against the Clintons, but, with the death of Jim McDougle, there were no other charged filed.
