A one-time Indianapolis businessman accused of defrauding backers of more than $200 million was really a victim of the 2008 fiscal collapse, his attorney says. The investment fraud lawyers said they are pleased to help clients who suffers in wrong fraud.
Tim Durham's trial on crime charges is scheduled to begin Fri. in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis and is expected to last 3 to a month.
Durham and 2 others are charged with robbing Akron, Ohio-based Fair Finance Co. And employing a Ponzi scheme to bilk about 5,000 generally aged financiers. Federal prosecutors have indicted Durham, his business partner and accountant of raiding the company to finance their lavish approaches to life and unsuccessful firms.
Durham's solicitor, John Tompkins, told the Indianapolis Business Book that Fair "was a credit business making an attempt to survive the credit tightening that was precipitated by the fiscal collapse of 2008" and failed to collapse because of wrongdoing by his client.
Tompkins had filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Durham, 49, but Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson rejected that request in April.
Tim Durham's trial on crime charges is scheduled to begin Fri. in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis and is expected to last 3 to a month.
Durham and 2 others are charged with robbing Akron, Ohio-based Fair Finance Co. And employing a Ponzi scheme to bilk about 5,000 generally aged financiers. Federal prosecutors have indicted Durham, his business partner and accountant of raiding the company to finance their lavish approaches to life and unsuccessful firms.
Durham's solicitor, John Tompkins, told the Indianapolis Business Book that Fair "was a credit business making an attempt to survive the credit tightening that was precipitated by the fiscal collapse of 2008" and failed to collapse because of wrongdoing by his client.
Tompkins had filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Durham, 49, but Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson rejected that request in April.
Tompkins also fought unsuccessfully to keep tapes of FBI wiretaps of Durham's telephone calls out of evidence, claiming they're misleading.
In the tapes, Durham and his partner allegedly discuss methods to hide the firm's true fiscal condition from regulators, how to hide $28 million in bad debt, and make a decision to close the business on Vets Day with no warning to stop buyers from cashing in instruments.
Tompkins maintains that prosecutors are only using a little slice of the taped conversations carefully selected to make Durham look guilty.
Out of 1,800 phones calls that were recorded, prosecutors plan to play excerpts from about 20, and those will be spliced excerpts, he said.
"It's nasty tough to give an accurate and complete picture with that," Tompkins informed The Associated Press on Monday.
Tim Horty, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office in Indianapolis, had no comment.
Tompkins related all of Fair's possible investors received circulars containing data about the company's finances. But in a court passing filed in May, prosecutors said the circulars failed to come clean about the change in business that occurred after Durham and his partners bought Fair in 2002.
Tompkins also maintains that Durham's lifestyle is unimportant. Prosecutors say Durham paid $250,000 to revamp his luxury home's garage, kept a yacht, private jets and a set of classic and exotic automobiles, and wired himself $150,000 for use at a casino.
"The only reason you need to talk of that kind of stuff is to make the jury feel alienated from Mr. Durham personally, in contrast to trying to prove to the jury that Mr. Durham did anything wrong," he informed the IBJ.
Durham has been under house arrest since his March 2011 indictment. Tompkins claimed his customer "obviously is under lots of private stress but is looking forward to having the entire story of what occurred at Fair to come out."
Durham and his partners each face up to 20 years in jail for each wire fraud count, 20 years for the instruments fraud count and 5 years for the conspiracy charge. Each man was indicted on a grand total of 12 counts.
U.S. Solicitor Joe Hogsett has ann
In the tapes, Durham and his partner allegedly discuss methods to hide the firm's true fiscal condition from regulators, how to hide $28 million in bad debt, and make a decision to close the business on Vets Day with no warning to stop buyers from cashing in instruments.
Tompkins maintains that prosecutors are only using a little slice of the taped conversations carefully selected to make Durham look guilty.
Out of 1,800 phones calls that were recorded, prosecutors plan to play excerpts from about 20, and those will be spliced excerpts, he said.
"It's nasty tough to give an accurate and complete picture with that," Tompkins informed The Associated Press on Monday.
Tim Horty, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office in Indianapolis, had no comment.
Tompkins related all of Fair's possible investors received circulars containing data about the company's finances. But in a court passing filed in May, prosecutors said the circulars failed to come clean about the change in business that occurred after Durham and his partners bought Fair in 2002.
Tompkins also maintains that Durham's lifestyle is unimportant. Prosecutors say Durham paid $250,000 to revamp his luxury home's garage, kept a yacht, private jets and a set of classic and exotic automobiles, and wired himself $150,000 for use at a casino.
"The only reason you need to talk of that kind of stuff is to make the jury feel alienated from Mr. Durham personally, in contrast to trying to prove to the jury that Mr. Durham did anything wrong," he informed the IBJ.
Durham has been under house arrest since his March 2011 indictment. Tompkins claimed his customer "obviously is under lots of private stress but is looking forward to having the entire story of what occurred at Fair to come out."
Durham and his partners each face up to 20 years in jail for each wire fraud count, 20 years for the instruments fraud count and 5 years for the conspiracy charge. Each man was indicted on a grand total of 12 counts.
U.S. Solicitor Joe Hogsett has ann
Tim Horty, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office in Indianapolis, had no comment.
Tompkins related all of Fair's possible investors received circulars containing data about the company's finances. But in a court passing filed in May, prosecutors said the circulars failed to come clean about the change in business that occurred after Durham and his partners bought Fair in 2002.
Tompkins also maintains that Durham's lifestyle is unimportant. Prosecutors say Durham paid $250,000 to revamp his luxury home's garage, kept a yacht, private jets and a set of classic and exotic automobiles, and wired himself $150,000 for use at a casino.
"The only reason you need to talk of that kind of stuff is to make the jury feel alienated from Mr. Durham personally, in contrast to trying to prove to the jury that Mr. Durham did anything wrong," he informed the IBJ.
Durham has been under house arrest since his March 2011 indictment. Tompkins claimed his customer "obviously is under lots of private stress but is looking forward to having the entire story of what occurred at Fair to come out."
Durham and his partners each face up to 20 years in jail for each wire fraud count, 20 years for the instruments fraud count and 5 years for the conspiracy charge. Each man was indicted on a grand total of 12 counts.
U.S. Solicitor Joe Hogsett has announced the case may be the largest white-collar crime case ever filed in southern Indiana.
About the Author:
Tompkins related all of Fair's possible investors received circulars containing data about the company's finances. But in a court passing filed in May, prosecutors said the circulars failed to come clean about the change in business that occurred after Durham and his partners bought Fair in 2002.
Tompkins also maintains that Durham's lifestyle is unimportant. Prosecutors say Durham paid $250,000 to revamp his luxury home's garage, kept a yacht, private jets and a set of classic and exotic automobiles, and wired himself $150,000 for use at a casino.
"The only reason you need to talk of that kind of stuff is to make the jury feel alienated from Mr. Durham personally, in contrast to trying to prove to the jury that Mr. Durham did anything wrong," he informed the IBJ.
Durham has been under house arrest since his March 2011 indictment. Tompkins claimed his customer "obviously is under lots of private stress but is looking forward to having the entire story of what occurred at Fair to come out."
Durham and his partners each face up to 20 years in jail for each wire fraud count, 20 years for the instruments fraud count and 5 years for the conspiracy charge. Each man was indicted on a grand total of 12 counts.
U.S. Solicitor Joe Hogsett has announced the case may be the largest white-collar crime case ever filed in southern Indiana.
About the Author:
This manuscript is all about ponzi schemes and investment fraud . The writer is Jona Blatche.