Indiana businessman ordered to pay $1.3 million in SEC case

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - An Indianapolis businessman has been ordered to pay $1.3 million in a six-year-old securities fraud case.

Federal judge Jane Magnus-Stinson sided with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday and found that Tim Durham violated securities law, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported .

Durham was convicted of securities fraud, conspiracy and wire fraud in 2012 for running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded more than 5,000 investors through his Akron, Ohio-based company, Fair Finance. He used that money to fund his lavish lifestyle and support his other businesses. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison.

Durham was represented in his 2012 trial by attorney John Tompkins. Durham is a trained attorney and represented himself in the appeal. He argued that his guilty conviction was the result of “ineffective assistance of counsel.” Magnus-Stinson tossed aside his arguments and granted the SEC’s summary judgment motion.

The SEC had asked that Magnus-Stinson order Durham to repay more than $200 million he acquired through ill-gotten gains.

Magnus-Stinson said the amount investors lost wasn’t the same as the amount Durham gained. She instead calculated the $1.3 million fine by giving Durham a $130,000 penalty for each of his 10 criminal convictions.

Since the company shut down in 2009, its bankruptcy trustee has paid investors $18 million.

Durham also has been barred from being a corporate officer or director.

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Information from: Indianapolis Business Journal, https://www.ibj.com