Fair Finance Trustee Has Recovered Only $2.3 Million

The efforts of the bankruptcy trustee for Fair Finance to recover the more than $200 million Ohio investors lost in the company has so far recovered a little more than $2.3 million of the nearly $14 million in assets it has identified as potentially collectible according to an interim report prepared by the bankruptcy trustee. Among the assets the trustee has so far been unable to collect include large donations Tim Durham made to a number of Indiana campaign committees. Those include the following:

• Gov. Mitch Daniels ($285,000)
• Indiana Republican State Committee ($228,000)
• Greater Indianapolis Finance Committee ($58,000)
• Attorney General Greg Zoeller ($22,000)
• Marion Co. GOP ($18,200)
• Former U.S. Rep. Baron Hill ($5,600)
• Former Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi ($193,000)
• Lawrence Mayor Paul Ricketts ($40,000)

Only a handful of campaign committees have returned contributions to date, including Sen. Mike Delph ($10,000), House Speaker Brian Bosma ($10,000), House Republican Campaign Committee ($17,000), Rothenberg for Judge ($1,000) and former Mayor Bart Peterson ($3,000).

The trustee is also trying to recover money paid to several Indianapolis law firms a short time before the company's demise. To date, only Taft Stettinius has returned money to the trustee ($20,000). The trustee is still trying to recover from Voyles, Zahn, Paul, Hogan & Merriman ($50,000), Riley Bennett & Egloff ($75,000) and Rubin & Levin ($70,000).

Trustee expenses to date have totaled over $520,000, leaving net proceeds of just a little over $1.8 million. Suffice it to say, the investors in Fair Finance will recover very little of the money they invested in Fair Finance.

CORRECTION: The original post indicated the return of a $1,000 campaign contribution to Judge Rosenberg's campaign committee. It has been brought to my attention by Judge Rosenberg's campaign treasurer that the campaign committee referenced in the trustee's report was not Judge Rosenberg's committee; it was the "Rothenberg for Judge Committee." I regret the error and apologize to Judge Rosenberg for the confusion that the earlier report created.