Indianapolis businessman Tim Durham used millions of dollars from Fair Finance Co. for gambling and to make contributions
to Indiana politicians, according to a bankruptcy trustee overseeing the Akron, Ohio, firm’s liquidation.
Trustee Brian Bash said at a creditors meeting in Akron on Monday that he has identified about $54 million that Durham borrowed
from the company.
Bash said that includes $2.8 million spent on gambling and at resorts, $3.3 million spent on interior decorating, $14 million
spent on real estate and $1 million spent on contributions, many of them to Hoosier politicians, according to the Akron
Beacon Journal.
The Durham loans represent the largest chunk of the more than $168 million in related-party loans issued by Fair. "It
appears there was very little hope of repayment," Bash said of the money Durham borrowed from the firm.
Durham also loaned money from the company to friends and failing businesses, according to filings with securities regulators.
The filings show that the lending spree began shortly after he and partner Jim Cochran bought the business in 2002 and continued
into last fall.
Bash declined to estimate how much he might be able to recoup for Fair’s principal creditors—Ohio residents who
purchased unsecured investment certificates with interest rates as high as 9.5 percent. The 5,000 investors, many of them
elderly and with modest incomes, are owed more than $200 million.
Fair Finance shut down in late November, after FBI agents raided its offices and seized records. The same day, the Justice
Department filed court papers alleging Durham was operating Fair as a Ponzi scheme, selling new investment certificates to
pay off prior purchasers.
An FBI investigation continues. Durham has not been charged with a crime.
Durham, 47, has acknowledged owing lots of money to Fair, but denied defrauding investors. In court papers, his attorneys
contend offering circulars provided to prospective purchasers of investment certificates outlined the risks, including that
they carried no government guarantee.
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I'd like to know these answers and more.
http://www.indy.gov/eGov/County/Clerk/Election/Candidate_Info/MCEBCampaignFinanceArchive/Filings/brizzi%2C%20carl_prosec-county_2009-12-31_cfa-4-ann.pdf
If the Trustee finds Durham's money trail leads to every nook and cranny involving other businesses that profited off Durham's fraud then they too should be required to return the money as well.
Two hundred thousand dollars is not the price of a Happy Meal at McDonald's.
Durham had a corporate jet, he could have had his suits made anywhere in the world. He didn't have to pick a rag shop in Castleton.
King needs to return the money to Fair Finance investors just like the politicians. $200 grand isn't chump change.
That's where the line gets drawn.
King's Image, anybody know anything about them? What are they, clothiers to the mob or what?
Greg and Cory, keep up the great work. Judging by the hits you guys get people are interested in seeing Durham go to jail. Or, Durham and Brizzi et al are reading your articles a zillion times a day. Lord knows they don't seem to care about showing up at their jobs. Oh yeah, wait, Durham's job was to spend the money he stole and Brizzi's job was to help him. That IS work.
Speaking of work....has anyone pulled Brizzi's auto logs? Just curious how often he drives to Elkhart to check on his "investment."