May 14, 2013
IBJ StaffMichael Russell, 54, pleaded guilty in January to 20 counts of wire fraud and money laundering in a scheme involving former
Indianapolis City-County Councilor Paul Bateman.
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April 1, 2013
Associated PressA central Indiana man banned from selling investments faces 10 securities fraud counts for allegedly using shared Christian
beliefs to dupe clients out of more than $580,000.
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February 16, 2013
The legislature is considering a bill that would require intrastate securities offerings to file audited financials, a safeguard
that caused trouble for Fair Finance investors.
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February 1, 2013
Associated PressA central Indiana county commissioner, his wife and members of three other families who lost more than $700,000 they invested
in businesses state officials say were shell companies are suing two men accused of orchestrating the scheme.
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January 25, 2013
Associated PressA Michigan attorney claims in a lawsuit that former Indianapolis prosecutor Carl Brizzi and former Indiana Secretary of State
Todd Rokita used unwarranted charges against her in a cemetery theft scheme to enhance their political reputations.
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January 23, 2013
Scott OlsonFair Finance bankruptcy trustee Brian Bash, charged with recovering funds for Fair investors, alleges in a court filing that
National Lampoon funded convicted Ponzi schemer Tim Durham's defense. Durham is a former CEO of the film company.
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January 23, 2013
J.K. WallPaul C. Bateman Jr., a former Democrat city-county councilor, agreed to plead guilty Wednesday to 13 counts of money laundering
and wire fraud for his part in defrauding an Indianapolis physician of $1.7 million.
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January 17, 2013
Scott OlsonMichael Russell faces between 57 and 71 months in prison for defrauding an Indianapolis investor of $1.7 million. Two associates,
Paul Bateman, a former City-County councilor, and Manuel Gonzalez, have pleaded not guilty and are set for trial Feb. 11.
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December 8, 2012
Greg AndrewsShouldn’t the 5,100 Ohio investors who lost more than $200 million when Fair collapsed have seen Fair’s lofty
interest rates as a red flag?
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December 3, 2012
Scott OlsonLocal criminal defense lawyers who tracked the trial of Tim Durham and his accomplices say chances are slim that they would
prevail on appeal. One said Durham would have a better chance of winning the lottery.
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November 30, 2012
Greg Andrews, Scott Olson, Cory SchoutenFormer Indianapolis businessman Tim Durham was sentenced to 50 years in prison for running a Ponzi scheme that led to the
collapse of Fair Finance, costing thousands of investors $250 million. Accomplices Jim Cochran and Rick Snow received 25 years
and 10 years, respectively.
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November 27, 2012
Scott OlsonSaying their crimes were "as serious as any financial fraud crime ever committed," federal prosecutors re-emphasized Monday
their recommendation that Ponzi schemer Tim Durham and his two accomplices deserve to spend the rest of their lives in prison.
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November 26, 2012
Scott OlsonConvicted Ponzi schemer Tim Durham is requesting a much shorter prison stay than the life sentence federal prosecutors want
him to serve. The convicted Ponzi schemer and two associates are set to be sentenced Friday.
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November 24, 2012
Greg AndrewsThe Ohio Division of Securities allowed Fair Finance to register investment certificates even after the company stopped providing
audited financials and Tim Durham drained more than $100 million from the firm through insider loans.
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October 29, 2012
Associated PressAn Indiana businessman has pleaded guilty to ripping off an Iowa company and duping investors in separate fraud schemes totaling
$2.3 million.
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October 17, 2012
Cory SchoutenThe trustee in the Fair Finance bankruptcy case and his law firm have run up legal bills approaching $9 million, nearly double
the recoveries they've achieved to date for investors victimized by convicted fraudster Tim Durham.
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September 26, 2012
Scott OlsonThe SEC’s complaint accuses three people of committing securities fraud by spending investor funds on luxury automobiles,
a motorcycle, a 30-foot boat, college tuition, home renovations, a wedding and a honeymoon in St. Lucia.
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July 9, 2012
Scott OlsonThe lawsuit accuses convicted money manager Keenan Hauke's former accounting firm of negligence for failing to monitor Hauke's
bank accounts, enabling him to use investor funds for his personal use. Hauke was sentenced in March to 10 years in prison.
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June 25, 2012
Cory SchoutenConvicted Ponzi schemers Tim Durham and James Cochran will be held in a federal prison until sentencing, while accomplice
Rick Snow will be confined under home detention, under an order issued Monday afternoon by U.S. District Judge Jane E. Magnus-Stinson.
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June 21, 2012
Cory SchoutenAn attorney for convicted fraud mastermind Tim Durham vowed Thursday to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary
to prove his client did nothing wrong.
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June 15, 2012
Cory SchoutenThe accounting firm Tim Durham hired to review the Ohio company’s 2003 finances refused to complete an audit because of concerns
about the accuracy of its numbers and the appropriateness of its practices. The FBI raided Fair Finance in November 2009.
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June 15, 2012
Greg Andrews, Mason King, Cory Schouten
A series of government-recorded phone calls have provided some of the most riveting courtroom moments during
the fraud trial of Tim Durham and two co-defendants.
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June 14, 2012
Cory SchoutenThe men who presided over Ohio-based Fair Finance were at their wits end by late 2009. In government-recorded phone calls
and intercepted e-mails introduced as evidence in U.S. District Court this week, they come across as exhausted, angry and
determined.
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June 14, 2012
Cory SchoutenFederal prosecutors in the Tim Durham fraud trial on Wednesday sought to introduce into evidence an IBJ investigative
report from October 2009, but a judge agreed with a defense attorney and denied the request.
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June 13, 2012
Cory Schouten
Donald Russell, a retired deputy sheriff, is among the more than 5,000 clients of Fair Finance who lost big investments
with the Ohio firm. After testifying on Tuesday during the fraud trial for Fair owner Tim Durham, he shared his story with
IBJ.
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liek the rest of America
These quaint,obsessed musings by the stalkers are certainly entertaining, but I'm trying to figure out what, if anything, all the yelping below has to do with Zak Brown.
It's evident that Moffett was pushing the right buttons and corporate America is now trying to squash him. He just wanted to withdraw the free pilot services provided to the company by the pilots to try and put some pressure on a company that has not been interested in negotiating a contract in over 5 years. The company does not provide a contract because not having one has saved them a bundle of money. Shame on any Republic pilots not standing behind their union leader just because things are getting tough, can you not see such strategic moves by the company as putting the last union president in a corporate position and into THEIR pocket. Do you really believe the last union president is so appalled at the attempts by Moffett, do you not remember his oppositions to the company? We stood behind him. It has been proven over and over again for thousands of years without fail, a man cannot serve two masters. Anyone that believes people vote contrary to their paycheck and livelihood deserve to be taken advantage of, the recent statements by the former union president are laughable as he denounces the current union president from his new corporate position. Have you ever seen a drafted sports player score points for his previous team, it cannot be done, he is not on the pilots side anymore, he gets his money a different way now than you and I do, and he should not be allowed to remain on the seniority list. A drafted player brings strength, credibility, tactical knowledge, and a strategic advantage to his NEW team, he would not be drafted or paid were it otherwise. We are all forced to choose only one side to play for and support, not doing so has many references in life such as insider trading and shaving points, all illegal for good reason. This basic fact is why corporate moguls, scientist, and engineers all sign non-discloser agreements and non-compete clauses, as protection in case they are lured into switching sides as our former union president has done. No NFL coach ever drafted a player so that both teams could benefit and better understand each other, they are recruited to win the game against that former team, period. Likewise the company does not recruit the former union president by accident or mutual understanding, its strategy. Don't confuse playing the game with good sportsman-like conduct in support of common business and prosperity goals, with the requirement to only play for one side. Good men we all love and favor fall subject to this manipulation, often without their knowledge, and it is not a betrayal of their friendship to oppose them when they switch sides. If we did not love and trust them, they would not have been chosen and lured to the other side in the first place. The deception by the drafted player is not made at a conscious level, it's just human nature and it's all about money and power which corrupts our ability to be objective and loyal to two masters. This is why our court system created the defense attorney, and why our military created counter intelligence. Its strategy and its propaganda, and it works, and that's why the "powers to be" manipulate the chess pieces by sometimes changing their colors. Some players know they are being manipulated when their color is changed, but it brings them more money and power so they do not care. The rest have good intentions but do not even realize they are being manipulated. This tactic is also known by another name, Divide and Conquer. In battle sending an imperfect message with an imperfect team is obviously not ideal, but it's still being sent by YOUR team, your union leader, a leader that has common goals and common rewards with you, they are the best, because we have elected them to do a job for us. If you are not backing Moffett but believing the spin by those that have recently switched sides, you are taking food out of your own mouth. Showing unity and backing an imperfect situation still results in taking just as much ground, it's about unity and bargaining power. It's not necessary to wait around for that perfect attack because it will never come, the company will spin and attempt to destroy anyone that gets in their way. Ultimately it's not about any specific attack anyway, ASAP or whatever it makes no difference, it is and always has been only about power. If this company cared about safety it would not build pairings with 8 hour overnights, come on, are you that naive? Besides, do you really think Hoffa cares, no, he got a call from corporate America and was squeezed into denouncing Moffett. If he didn't they would spin the safety card against him and the Teamsters National with implication for truckers, future contracts, insurance rates etc...saying something like the Teamsters use safety as a bargaining chip, blah blah blah... Do you really think any pilot is going to do something unsafe for the contract, absolutely not, the only ones threatening safety here is the company with reduced rest, fatigue, and poverty. Do you not find it odd that Hoffa and the Teamsters are opposing a Teamster president publicly? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and work with one of their own? Why did they not sit down and help him strategize, correct any mistakes, and charge ahead? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and leverage a contract for all those pilots that have been paying Teamster dues, isn't that why we have all been paying Teamster dues in the first place? I sure haven't been paying dues so that the Teamsters National could come along and write this kind of an article undercutting our union leader and our unity. Whose side is the Teamsters National really on, it's obviously not the Republic pilots side.
No matter what Moffatt does the company is going to spin it like he is the terrorist and brainwash people like you into believing it, wake up, back your players that are trying to change things for you and your livelihood. Where has Hoffa been for the last 6 years, except collecting our dues. Seriously, do you really think an FO going for upgrade, signed off by a checkairman ready for the upgrade, who then fails, is not even capable of returning as a First Officer.
whoa!