A federal judge is weighing whether to unseal search-warrant documents related to the federal investigation of businessman
Tim Durham and Akron, Ohio-based Fair Finance Co. following a hearing Thursday in Youngstown, Ohio.
Judge George
J. Limbert heard arguments from attorneys on both sides of the issue but did not make a ruling, according to the Akron
Beacon Journal.
The Beacon Journal and Indianapolis Star launched the legal battle in mid-December,
several weeks after FBI agents raided Durham’s Indianapolis office and Fair’s headquarters. Indianapolis Business
Journal and the Wall Street Journal joined the effort in early January.
The newspapers contend that
the records should be unsealed in part because of intense community and national interest. In court Thursday, a representative
of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Indianapolis argued that unsealing search warrants and FBI affidavits could damage
the federal government's ongoing investigation, the Beacon Journal reported.
The probe has been public
since the Nov. 24 raids. Court papers filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that day allege Fair operated as a Ponzi scheme,
using money from new investors to pay what it owed prior investors.
The raids occurred one month after IBJ
published an investigative story that raised questions about whether Fair Finance had the financial wherewithal to repay
Ohio investors who had purchased nearly $200 million in investment certificates.
Read the Beacon Journal story here.
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On October 30, 2002, Champion Trailer, Inc. ("Champion"), a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Obsidian Enterprises, Inc. ("Obsidian"), entered into a Memorandum
of Agreement with Timothy S. Durham and Terry G. Whitesell pursuant to which
Champion agreed to sell all of its assets to an entity to be designated by
Messrs. Durham and Whitesell subject to the payment by Messrs. Durham and
Whitesell of $1.00 and the assumption by the entity acquiring the assets of all
of the liabilities of Champion except for the liability of Champion to Markpoint
Equity Growth Fund IV ("Markpoint").
If you have time, read some of Obsidians filings. They are some great reading.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/nyregion/19kerik.html
If the title transfered in AUGUST 2008 as you state, Andrew's headline and information was SERIOUSLY WRONG. It was sold close to 2 years ago. Come on big guy, put your money where your mouth is; I'll bet you say, 2K that headline was a LIE in so much that the yacht being sold in Turkey was NOT A POSSESSION OF DURHAMS AT THAT TIME. I always use my real e-mail address when I submit comments. Let me know if you really want to stand behind your words...if not, what do you bother on here?
Oh, "Scotty," wrong on that point too, genius.
I am flattered you have confused me for him several times now. We do share a commonality in that we have both been published around the world. No worries, confusion seems to be your common state I see.
With regards to the comment re the yacht, the yacht was titled in a corporation named Durham Leasing, using a Georgetown, Cayman Islands law firm. In August, 2008--which isn't two years ago, now is it--the yacht transferred title to a new corporation called Mariana Inc, set up by none other than a Georgetown, Cayman Islands law firm. Isn't that an amazing coincidence! And Timmy never registered the yacht with the Coast Guard, so there would be a public record of the hull #. No, he elected secrecy. He could shut everyone up by producing the bill of sale, showing the transfer of funds, and by the way at the same time producing AUDITED financials for DC Investments, Fair Finance and Fair Holdings. I'd also like to see his sales tax record for those cars. Yikes!
Now, the interesting thing is that yacht had a sizeable mortgage from Key Bank--you may remember Key Bank used to own McDonald Investments at the very time that, according to Tim Morrison's asset freeze motion that stated Tim wired money from Fair Finance to a personal account of his at none other than McDonald Investments.
And, what stocks did McDonald Investeents trade heavily in? Why, what a small world! Brightpoint and Cellstar--but with regard to Cellstar not until shortly before Brightpoint bought them! Another amazing coincidence. And, ol' McDonald does or at least at the time did the Brightpoint 401k. I want to say DID because it was the Knall/Cohen team that ran the 401k for Brightpoint, and now they are over at Stifel.
And what happened right after ol Jeffypoo Cohen went to Stifel? Why, a Stifel analyst was brought in to say nice things about none other than National Lampoon after Jeffypoo moved to Stifel. You know, Cohen being a member of the tribe and all.
But, back to Timmy Durham, my my my, the yacht had a mortgage, the cars have liens, the houses in the group (Cochran, Durham et al) had the cash stripped out of them, the companies like Classic had seller notes where the sellers got stiffed, it's almost as if Tim margined the cash coming in from Fair and just completely blew it pretending to be the world's richest guy.
To me he is the world's biggest loser. I betcha a lot of those Fair Finance people feel that way, too.
y'all need to get a life outside this board, I guess now that the $$$ are drying up you have no life, do ya??? Must totally suck to know that the only way you can get "rich" is to steal from a bunch of naive and elderly people over in small town Ohioville....how pathetic
Even HE credits his reporting for the raid.
Why don't you go back and "research" his endless Durham articles and see how many of them fail to boast of his influence on the case.
Yeah, it's a real vendetta by Greg that Tim Durham--not Greg Andrews--stiffed the former owners of Classic Trailers payment of their seller note due JUNE 2009--and it's really Greg's fault Fair Finance was BOUNCING dividend checks way before the October article ran.... call the banks in Wooster and check yourself. Upset clients were wanting the banks to refund their bounced dividend check deposit fees!
Tim's dream come true would be putting Fair Holdings and Fair Finance into receivorship--the class action attorneys make a quick small fee and the investors are SCREWED because a large part of the assets were transferred to DC Investments, which would NOT be covered by a Fair Holdings/Fair Finance receivorship....
and what are all those classaction victims going to do, sue everyone for legal malpractice? They are ignorant and know no better. I am personally embarrassed that any attorney has the audacity to forget the real vehicle for fraudulent transfers--DC Investments. Always follow the money, dude!
I hope members of the Indiana Bar take note of how not to run a lawsuit! Bankruptcy is the appropriate remedy here so the assets frudulently transferred out can be recovered.
http://fairfinanceinvestors.com/DC_Investments_Loan_Receivables_Investments_-_S.pdf
Are you worried about this?
http://www.fairfinanceinvestors.com/html/6_-_brightpoint.html
GREAT SITE for Durham dirt