Indianapolis financier Timothy S. Durham, owner of Obsidian Enterprises in Indianapolis and Fair Financial in Akron, Ohio, is the target of investigation by the FBI. On Nov. 24, federal agents raided Durham’s offices in downtown Indianapolis and Ohio, taking records and information related to his two companies.
Search warrants for the raids are sealed.
Durham , 47, is known as a leveraged buy-out and turn-around specialist. Last month, a story appearing in the Indianapolis Business Journal raised questions as to whether Durham’s business, Fair Financial, could repay Ohio investors who bought nearly $200 million in investment certificates. According to the IBJ story, Fair Financial has continued to raise money from investors, offering interest rates on 24-month notes as high as 9% – an amount that is more than triple what commercial banks offers for certificates of deposit. Unlike CDs, however, Fair’s securities have no government guarantee. Many of the securities were sold to Ohio residents, who had only modest incomes.
Durham’s story sounds eerily familiar to that of disgraced financier R. Allen Stanford. In February, U.S. marshals raided Stanford Financial’s Houston headquarters, following charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that the bulk of Stanford’s business was an $8 billion Ponzi scheme. Stanford allegedly orchestrated his scam by selling bogus certificates of deposit to investors and promises of high interest rates.
And just like Stanford, Durham had taste for the good life. He’s known as a collector of pricey cars and traveling on private jets and yachts. He also owns a 30,000-square-foot home near Fortville.
If you invested money with either of Timothy Durham’s companies, Obsidian Enterprises or Fair Financial, please contact our lawyers. We want to advise you on your legal options.
June 3rd, 2010 at 10:57 am
It is no surprise that Tim and Obsidian were over-leveraged…usually, when it’s too good to be true, it probably is!