LOST PARADISE
Hardy developer Wayne Watkins is accused of defrauding real estate investors in Sharp County . Authorities said Watkins, who spent more than two decades developing family and camping resorts along the Spring River, sold land to an unknown number of buyers through installment contracts that allowed him to automatically withdraw monthly payments from their bank accounts.
Watkins used the land as collateral to take out $2.6 million in loans, then defaulted on the loans and the land was seized, authorities said. Officials said Watkins and the money disappeared, along with any legal claim the buyers had to the land.
Hardy developer facing $3 million in penalties
posted: 04/06/2012 4:29 a.m. Comment 1
Former Hardy land developer Wayne Watkins faces $3 million in civil penalties as a result of a judgment rendered in a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Dustin Mc-Daniel in 2008 over claims that Watkins swindled thousands of dollars from buyers in a failed land deal on the Spring River.
