Indiana businessman admits guilt in 2 fraud plots
An Indiana businessman has pleaded guilty to ripping off an Iowa company and duping investors in separate fraud schemes totaling $2.3 million.
Criminal Charges
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Police arrest six in theft of metals from vacant buildings
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office has filed criminal charges against six people it says were part of a metal theft ring that targeted vacant commercial buildings in Indianapolis and Anderson.
GOP senator plans bill decriminalizing pot possession
State Sen. Brent Steele, R-Bedford, said he’ll introduce legislation in the 2013 legislative session that would make possession of 10 grams or less of marijuana an infraction, rather than a criminal offense.
Local financial planner sentenced for identity theft
A former financial planner at the Indianapolis offices of Northwestern Mutual and One America-American United Life was sentenced Tuesday to two years in federal prison and three years of probation after pleading guilty to identity theft.
Ex-Countrymark CEO denied early prison release
David Swanson had argued that his lawyers were derelict in not seeking a mistrial stemming from his 2002 conviction on wire fraud, money laundering and tax evasion charges. A federal appeals court on Wednesday affirmed his 12-year sentence.
Local attorney facing fraud charges released from jail
Lawyer William F. Conour had been held in a Decatur County Jail since July 25 on a contempt of court charge until a judge on Monday ordered his release. Conour is accused of defrauding clients of $2.5 million.
Local attorney facing fraud charges resigns from bar
High-profile Indianapolis attorney William F. Conour, 65, who is accused of misappropriating $2.5 million in client funds, has relinquished his law license to the Indiana bar.
Judge orders Durham, Cochran jailed until sentencing
Convicted 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.
Durham attorney vows to appeal guilty verdict
An 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.
Durham found guilty on all counts
U.S. Attorney Joseph Hogsett hailed the jury's decision, calling the case "the most significant piece of litigation the Southern District has seen in a generation." Tim Durham and co-defendants Jim Cochran and Rick Snow were handcuffed and taken to the Marion County Jail.
Defense rests in Durham trial without defendants testifying
Defense attorneys in the federal fraud trial of Fair Finance executives Tim Durham, Jim Cochran and Rick Snow rested their cases Tuesday morning after calling just one witness and introducing a handful of exhibits.
Durham prosecutors wrap case with details on asset transfer
In the weeks before an FBI raid shut down Fair Finance Co., top company executives led by Indianapolis financier Tim Durham devised a last-ditch maneuver they hoped would persuade Ohio regulators to allow them to keep selling investment certificates.
AUDIO: Wiretaps capture Durham, co-defendants scrambling
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.
Durham trial: Auditor expected problems at Fair Finance
The 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.
Durham prosecutors ask to admit IBJ story as evidence
Federal 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.
Trial evidence shows desperation in Fair Finance’s final days
The 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.
VIDEO: Fair Finance investor’s family lost $475K
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.
No lockstep defense strategy for Durham co-defendants
Tim Durham and his co-defendants in the fraud case involving Fair Finance sit on the same side of the courtroom, but that doesn't mean their interests are always aligned.
Durham trial: Fair Finance controller details cash crunch
The former controller at Fair Finance is testifying at the fraud trial of Tim Durham as a star witness for the federal government in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Durham lawyer wants lifestyle out of trial
Tim Durham’s attorney is hellbent on preventing prosecutors from fixating on the things that made the Indianapolis financier a staple of TV news and gossip columns—his fancy cars, waterfront mansion and other trappings of a lavish lifestyle. Durham’s trial is set to begin on Friday.