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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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?
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
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.
More
these guys only skill was to steal from other's hard earned savings.
I voted for him last time and it WAS the LAST time. He needed to to quit running around the world on useless trips, and giving our $$ away to sports teams. I'll vote for anyone but Ballard next time. BTW...we gave $40M to the Pacers and cannot even watch the games on TV.
For the people concerned about traffic, you should know that mixed-use projects (like the one being proposed), actually allows for and encourages more people to walk and bike, thereby mitigating additional automobile traffic. If we continue to design and build suburban-type projects in the City (i.e. automobile-oriented projects), we are not offering anything different from what the suburbs offer, which means we will continue to lose jobs/people to the suburbs. The reason Broad Ripple is somewhat successful today is that people want to live in a place that offers the convenience of being able to walk/bike to restaurants, retail, nightlife, the Monon, etc. Why would you not want to support a project that is complimentary to what already makes the area desirable? The real argument with this project should be its lack-luster design and layout, not the density.
It is unfortunate that there is a perception that celebrities validate an event. The Indy 500 stands on its own, especially for those coming in from out of town. It was always so disturbing to read the gushing descriptions of Ashley Judd threaded throughout the local coverage. Very happy that era is at an end.
Good ole' Obamacare. Thanks liberals and those who didn't bother to vote.