Due diligence if investing with a developer

[Peter O'Donnell]

Hello I am a newbie to bigger pockets. 
A friend of mine is considering investing with a developer. The developer is offering a return of 50 %, on funds. With the project scheduled to be 1 year, before funds ( and profit ) returned. As far as I can tell the developer is basically assembling his own private money/Hard money fund, for this project. The project is building a strip shopping center, with mainly fast food tenancies. It is on a main road next to a large, busy service station. Currently a vacant block of land, with approval for this development, in place. My friend insists that this guy can be trusted. I advised against. She however is still interested, and asked for my help in checking things out further. Which I am happy to do. However I have never actually used private money/ or hard money. So I would appreciate any help, suggestions, or maybe a checklist of questions I should ask. Thanks in advance