Deception

About the Book

Joseph Hyland, a real estate developer during the real estate boom in the early 2000s, partnered with Josef Rynsburger, a Dutch investor; and a Dutch bank whose president was Hagan Vinke to construct six high-end developments in Florida. Hyland’s partnership with its connection with the Dutch bank borrowed over $1.5 billion for the development of their projects. Both Rynsburger and Vinke created several deceptions to defraud Hyland out of his profits. Vinke, as the president of the Dutch bank, also deceived both Hyland and Rynsburger because of his greed along with concerns that some, or all, the developments would fail as the real estate boom dissipated. Those deceptions along with other creative deceptions by individuals involved with the developments caused not only several murders but also the largest foreclosure in the history of Southwest Florida in the amount of just under $1 billion. Deception takes the reader into the mystery of solving the deaths and where all the diverted money disappeared as well as unraveling the deceptions to determine who becomes a millionaire, who loses everything, or even worse.

About the Author

Steven Winer is a retired attorney, born in St. Paul, Minnesota, who has practiced real estate, business and banking law for 40 years. He moved to Southwest, Florida in 1984. Steven represented banks, developers and purchasers during the down years as well as the robust real estate boom era in the early 2000’s, where he witnessed, first hand, the devastation that those times caused many individuals and entities. Steven enjoys his retirement by helping entrepreneurs fulfill their dreams of starting their own businesses through volunteering with the national SCORE organization; he also volunteers for the Lee County Visitors and Convention Bureau in his beloved Southwest Florida; and enjoys writing about his many experiences during the times he practiced law. Steven has been married to his wife, Linda, for 28 years. They have three children and six grandchildren. Writing has always been a passion of his since he took his first creative writing class at the University of Minnesota.