Durham asks to move back into his mansion

Indicted financier Tim Durham has asked a federal judge to allow him to move from his sister’s home in Geist back to his own, 20,000-square-foot mansion in Fortville.

Durham has been living on home detention at his sister’s house since his April arrest on 12 felony counts.  

His motion to move to his mansion was made under seal. But federal prosecutors, in an objection filed on Monday, said Durham made the motion because his sister is concerned for her safety due to threats made against Durham.

Prosecutors argued that allowing Durham to live in a house built partly with Fair Finance Co. investor money is “tantamount to letting him enjoy the fruits of his crime, as alleged by the grand jury.” The judge has not ruled on his request.

A 23-page grand jury indictment alleges that Durham and business partner James F. Cochran worked with former Fair Finance Chief Financial Officer Rick D. Snow to devise and execute a scheme to defraud investors in the Akron, Ohio-based company.

Authorities say that after Durham bought Fair in 2002, he doled out related-party loans with abandon, leaving the company unable to repay Ohio residents who purchased unsecured investment certificates boasting interest rates as high as 9.5 percent. More than 5,200 investors are owed more than $230 million.

Durham, Cochran and Snow have denied wrongdoing.
 
Further objecting to Durham’s latest motion, federal prosecutors argue that he should not be living in a house that is in foreclosure due to his own inability to maintain mortgage payments.

They also believe two of the three individuals living in Durham’s mansion are potential witnesses in their case against him. Durham said in his motion that one of the individuals has agreed to move out if his request is granted.

“If Durham does not want to live with his sister any longer, he should be given an opportunity to find a residence that is not implicated in the fraud and where potential witnesses do not also reside,” prosecutors wrote.

Last month, Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson denied Durham’s request to relax restrictions of his home detention. He had asked the court to modify the conditions of his release to visit his attorney’s office more frequently and to travel to California up to 12 days a month.

Durham is acting CEO of National Lampoon Inc. in Los Angeles.