More than four years after revenue agents, regulators and legislators fixed loopholes in a system that nearly robbed state and federal governments of tens of millions in tax dollars, the fallout is just starting for the man many saw as the epicenter of the crisis.

Five lawsuits filed by jilted investors of Denver lawyer Rodney Atherton tell the tale of how he took an overlooked state program and quickly molded it into a financial windfall for himself, his family, his friends and many of his clients.

But the windfall didn't last. Investors say they lost millions of dollars in unsound deals and were double-dipped by companies run by Atherton or his family.

Some of the easement deals Atherton created – huge projects that on paper were real-estate developments – and the appraisals they balanced on were "abusive" and "fundamentally flawed," according to expert testimony filed in the lawsuits.

Read more of David Migoya's story in the Denver Post.

(Copyright 2012 The Denver Post)