Closing arguments are expected to begin Wednesday afternoon in the federal fraud trial of Indianapolis real estate broker John M. Bales and partner William E. Spencer after the defense raced through seven witnesses Tuesday and early Wednesday.
In a day on the witness stand, former Marsh Supermarkets Inc. CEO Don Marsh told jurors during his fraud trial Tuesday that he’s not proud of his extramarital affairs, but he insisted the private jet trips he took to visit his mistresses were business-related.
Federal prosecutors rested their fraud case against John M. Bales and partner William E. Spencer on Monday after a full day of testimony from FBI Special Agent Brian Percival that included several references to former Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi.
The lead lawyer for Marsh Supermarkets Inc. expects to call Don Marsh as its first witness when the civil trial against him reconvenes Tuesday. The grocery chain alleges that the former CEO used company funds to pay more than $3 million in personal expenses.
The legal team representing real estate broker John M. Bales and partner William E. Spencer haven't called their first witness and already they're putting up a spirited fight as federal prosecutors seek to prove 13 charges including bank, mail and wire fraud.
An FBI investigation into Venture Real Estate Services and principals John Bales and Bill Spencer had already begun when Matthew Dyer signed on as the company's controller in December 2009. Bales told him the company had done nothing illegal, Dyer testified Wednesday.
Attorney and developer Paul J. Page is no longer a co-defendant in the fraud trial of real estate broker John M. Bales and partner Bill Spencer. But you wouldn’t know it from the action Tuesday in U.S. District Court. Only now, rather than federal prosecutors, it’s defense attorneys for Bales and Spencer who are targeting Page.
Facing a looming deadline to find suitable office space for the state Department of Child Services, Indianapolis real estate broker John M. Bales and partner Bill Spencer in 2008 dipped into their own pockets to help close a difficult lease deal, their defense attorneys contend.
The jury trial in South Bend for real estate developer John Bales and his general counsel, William E. Spencer, is scheduled to begin Jan. 28 and last up to two weeks. Bales and Spencer, both 45, are facing 13 counts, including wire and mail fraud.
A synthetic natural gas plant proposed downstate need only tweak its contract with would-be gas purchaser Indiana Finance Authority to comply with an October court ruling and to proceed with the project, Indiana Gasification said in a recent filing with the Indiana Court of Appeals. But opponents of the plant, led by Evansville-based gas and electric utility Vectren, immediately objected.
The Indiana Supreme Court on Monday let stand a ruling saying blood was drawn properly from an allegedly intoxicated Indianapolis police officer after a 2010 fatal crash. But the officer's attorney said it's uncertain whether the evidence can be introduced at trial.
Marion County Judge Grant Hawkins said the case surrounding David Bisard had generated too much publicity for him to get a fair trial in central Indiana.
Local 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.
Former 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.
A 74-year-old former nun who cares for young children to earn a living after being swindled out of her life savings and a woman whose father lost $170,000 in proceeds from the sale of his farm testified against Tim Durham and his two fraud accomplices Friday morning.
A federal judge will determine whether an Anderson church can exit bankruptcy with a lighter debt load, over objections from its bank lender, after a church scheme to profit by selling life insurance on its elderly members failed.
Saying 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.
Convicted 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.
The Indianapolis Airport Authority has taken its fight against an off-airport parking operator to the Indiana Court of Appeals after exhausting its options in Marion County Superior Court.
Fair Finance Co.'s investors have been dealt a blow by a federal judge who dismissed a bankrutpcy trustee's lawsuit against one of the company’s deep-pocketed lenders.
