No, it does not take some secret "deal" treasure map. 

He gets real aggro if anyone tries to unveil his secret. 

Prosecutors estimated that as much as ninety percent of the company's revenue was fraudulent.[6] On June 16, prosecutors won a superseding indictment charging Minkow with credit card fraud and two additional counts of mail fraud.[22]While Minkow admitted to manipulating the company's stock, he claimed that he was forced to turn the company into a Ponzi scheme under pressure from the organized-crime figures who secretly controlled his company,[23] a story he later admitted was false.[4] On December 14, he was found guilty on all charges.[18] On March 27, 1989, he was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison.

No secret I'm not a fan of new build or supposed turn key rental deals but regardless I would 100% have expected them to alert me to such a significant increase in taxes likely which should have been included in the prospectus. 

Handwritten yellow letters are one of the best-kept secrets for maximizing ROI—but let’s be honest, writing 30,000 of them by hand isn’t realistic unless you’ve got a robot with a real pen!

That hasn’t disappeared — but the environment has changed.The Reality: Competition Is Higher — Precision Matters MoreLet’s address the elephant in the room.The secret is out.There are more investors competing for the same deals, often using similar playbooks.

Here's the secret most people don't tell you- those properties that are higher quality and more desirable that don't cash flow very well right now- they'll cash flow like crazy in 10 years AND they'll be worth more.

There's no easy money or secret market.

And let me tell you a secret: people good at what they do don't have trouble making money doing it.2.

So with the example of him secretly funding the buyers down payment…I guess it’s possible that he’d sign a PSA for $5m when it was really $4m and he’d wire the $1m to his buyer before closing.