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Governor's Fair Finance settlement yields just $3,000

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Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, one of the largest recipients of indicted financier Tim Durham’s political largesse, has reached a settlement with Fair Finance Co.’s bankruptcy trustee that recovers just $3,000.

Daniels’ Mitch for Governor Campaign Committee received about $200,000 in contributions from Durham and his companies, including $90,000 in the four years before Durham-led Fair landed in bankruptcy court in February 2010. So-called fraudulent transfer law allows trustees to go back just four years to recover transfers.

Attorneys representing bankruptcy Trustee Brian Bash declined to comment. But court papers filed Tuesday afternoon show Daniels’ committee isn’t paying more because it has only $3,500 in cash remaining.

Daniels is in the final year of his second and final four-year term in office. Since he won re-election in 2008, much of his campaign war chest has gone toward supporting other GOP committees and candidates.

Those committees soon may hear from attorneys for Bash. Under the settlement, the Mitch for Governor Campaign Committee consented to have a $90,000 judgment entered against it—a move that sets the stage for the trustee to try to collect from those committees. In the settlement, the Mitch for Governor Campaign Committee affirmed the trustees’ right to pursue recoveries from subsequent transferees.

Jane Jankowski, a spokeswoman for the governor, was not immediately available for comment.

Daniels is the last major politician to settle with Bash. The largest deal, struck late last year, was with former Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi, who agreed to return $180,881. The 10 settlements Bash negotiated with candidates and committees are expected to recoup a total of more than $386,000.

Durham was one of the state’s largest contributors to GOP political candidates before his financial empire collapsed in late 2009. The trustee contends the payments were fraudulent transfers because they were made when Durham and his companies were insolvent.

The trustee since early 2010 has been trying to recover money for Fair Finance's investors—Ohio residents who purchased unsecured certificates with interest rates as high as 9.5 percent. Bash alleges Durham “utterly looted” Fair after buying it in 2002, stripping the business of the financial wherewithal to repay more than 5,000 investors who are owed more than $200 million.

Durham and two business partners, James Cochran and Rick Snow, were arrested in March after being indicted on 12 felony counts, including conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud. They deny wrongdoing.

For all of IBJ's Durham coverage, click here.







 


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  • attorney fees
    Of the 386,00 how much goes to attorneys and how much to investors?
  • Shameful
    Pleeeeeeaaaaase - no one else got an 'out' because a specific account was spent. Goodness knows he has his own $millions. This is absolutely disgraceful from the he who likes to tell others how to govern.
  • dead beat mitch
    Mitch is NOT a man of integrity, time and time he has proven that, so why would it be expected that he pay back ALL the money.
  • Slick Mitch
    Way to go my man, this move ranks up there with the 320mill you just happened to find, or Tom Bales and his fellow buds. I am proud that Mitch has balanced the budget with only selling off roads and taking contributiions for likes of Tim d. Tonight, Mitch should tell us all about all of the jobs he as created, and all of our money he claims to have in surplus, and how he separates economics from social issues. Finally, he is behind "right to work" as his issue of the years. Like everything else, no data, no reason to push it except to bust unions and put down workers. Yeah rah Mitch.
  • wow!
    Thers a suprise, I heard it all went to Charlie White or was it to his leagal fund legal fund :) Just like IPL way to go Mitch!
  • How about Aiming Higher
    Well, since the Mitch Re-election committee has no funds, how about going after the Aiming Higher PAC, which is essentially a Mitch Daniels campaign/policy committee?

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  1. Well, we could blame ABC because they haven't advertised the INDY 500....not during the HUGE TV rating shows like Dancing with the Stars (of which IICS driver Helio Castroneves is a former champion). He never won a CART championship, did he?

    We could blame the new car...because it's ugly and has a V6 that has less horsepower than the pace car. CART (to my knowledge) never had that problem with cars they presented at the speedway years 1979 through 1995.

    We could blame the fencepost, but that would be crass. Or maybe Danica? Or maybe Jean Alesi....or boost increases from constant rules tampering. Maybe we could blame Penske who still is winning everything as usual.

    Maybe we can blame the world for not understanding the the great Indy gods who regularly twist things in such ways that we mere mortals must only accept, but never question.

    So, it does beg the question....who is responsible if the series and Indy continues to flounder? Are the responsibilities so diffuse and complicated that no one really is to blame for it's fall from grace?

    I urge the speedway to sign on for 7 more years of ABC coverage and 7 more years of NBC Sports Network coverage. It been win-win so far....*cough* *cough*

  2. "They're problem was thinking they were bigger than the institution that made their existence possible. That turned out to be a mistake."

    The above quote made by Disciple shows his continued inability to grasp a simple concept: CART is dead. Twice. It provided a brilliant stage for some of the best open wheel racing in all the past century of racing. It's gone DOOD, get over it.

    PLEASE explain, Mr. Disciple of INDYCAR, why you continually hammer home, even on the eve of the 2012 Indy 500, this same point...over and over? Seriously, why does the legacy of CART haunt you so much?

    The same problems that affected the sport for over a century of AOW racing STILL affect it now. Your answers (or lack thereof) belittle the very sport you claim to love. Indy rots in your hands yet you request status quo. You negate salient points with drivel...always.

    Indy is not going to die. But, it is dying...are you willing to accept that? "Indy is a hot mess"....it's true. Yet you want it that way? What is wrong with you?

  3. I just want to make sure I am reading this right - Wellpoint is eliminating 112 employees. Wellpoint is a customer of Repucare. Repucare is creating 82 jobs. I sure hope they are hiring Wellpoint employees. Does not make sense!

  4. Triscuts...love um!

  5. Of course the fair will go on. Don't you big city reporters understand county fairs? Get outside the beltway and see what life is really like!

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