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.
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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.
Vaunted attorney Bill Conour has lots of explaining to do
A large question looms in the wake of the April 27 announcement that Conour has been charged in a federal criminal complaint with misappropriating more than $2.5 million in client funds from December 2000 to March 2012. If he is indeed guilty of the wire-fraud charge he faces, where did all the money go?
Local attorney charged with defrauding clients of $2.5M
William F. Conour, 64, turned himself in to federal authorities Friday morning, accused of engaging in a scheme from December 2000 to March 2012 to defraud his clients, using money obtained from new settlement funds to pay for old settlements and debts.
Would-be philanthropist sentenced in check-fraud case
A 70-year-old Trafalgar man who made empty promises of multimillion-dollar gifts to local cultural institutions was sentenced to six years of probation Thursday morning in an unrelated check-fraud case.
Two charged in $2.2M scheme against Colts’ Freeney
A financial adviser for Indianapolis Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney and the adviser's lover have been arrested on federal wire fraud charges that allege they swindled about $2.2 million from the lineman.
Ex-investment manager Hauke gets 10 years for fraud
Keenan Hauke of Fishers, who pleaded guilty to securities fraud in December after costing hedge fund clients $7 million, received a 10-year federal prison sentence Friday morning.
Indianapolis attorney pleads guilty to theft charges
An Indianapolis attorney has pleaded guilty to theft charges after prosecutors say she took nearly $600,000 from two accounts for which she was responsible.