This would be an interesting plot for a season of True Detective. The progression of events fits nicely with the dual timeline structure of the first season.
ISTM this was due more to the windfall situation than to agriculture specifically. The marks happened to be farmers, but what made them marks was the fact that they had more money than they knew what to do with. That is, I wouldn't be surprised to see a similar story about the Dakotas in the years before the oil price dropped.
How bizarre, as soon as I scroll down past the subtitle the entire page goes white and never comes back. Happens whether I drag the scrollbar, use the down key, use the page down key, or swipe on the touchscreen as well.
(latest firefox on windows 8 on a thinkpad tablet 2 in case anybody's curious)
TLDR; The South African man Arno comes to the US in 1999. He cons millions from farmers and rich women. He eludes the FBI and a private investigator in 2008. He flees to South Africa in 2009 with his brother, the leader of an organized poaching ring. In 2011 Arno and his brother's poaching ring are caught by local authorities in South Africa.
There are lots of interesting bits of California agricultural history between the plot points.
You need to read more of them, you'll soon get into the rhythm of reading them. Once I figure that it's a long story, I bookmark it for later consumption.
I look at them as mini-novels / long short stories. Since I read non-technical things for relaxation, they fit in. Places like the NYT, New Yorker and Rolling Stone often have long articles like this. (Heads up, Matt Taibbi from Rolling Stone writes these really long stories with lots of detail. Problem is that he's mostly writing about the scum of the earth, so your blood pressure is rocking before you get done.)
This one was good TL;DR; Guy scammed farmers out of millions, but all the details, back and side stories were very interesting.
I thought it was interesting, I read the whole thing because I'm relaxing listening to the rain falling out my window. It's like reading a book, only a long form, well written magazine article instead.
Now I'm off to meet some friends for lunch! Enjoy your day :)
