Legal aid professionals, federal investigators and Ohio regulators will participate in an informational meeting Tuesday night in Wooster regarding issues related to the ongoing federal investigation of Akron-based Fair Finance Co.
The meeting, open to anyone who has investments with Fair Finance, will be 7 to 8 p.m. at Fisher Auditorium on Ohio State University's OARDC campus, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster. The meeting is sponsored by U.S. Rep. John Boccieri, D-Alliance.
Experts will answer questions on asset security and provide information on the free resources and law enforcement contacts available to help, Boccieri said. Court records show federal investigators suspect a Ponzi scheme in which Ohio residents purchased nearly $200 million in investment certificates from Fair Finance, which does business as Fair Financial.
The FBI in late November raided Fair Finance's Akron headquarters and offices of a related company in Indianapolis. The Fair family sold the consumer loan and accounts receivables business, established in 1934 in Akron, in 2002 to Indiana businessman Timothy Durham and business partner James Cochran.
Boccieri has been calling on the U.S. attorney's office in southern Indiana to freeze the assets of Akron-based Fair Finance and its co-owners.
Fair Finance has five offices in Boccieri's district that includes Wooster in Wayne County and also Canton, Medina, Wadsworth and Ashland. There also are two offices in Akron, including the headquarters, and another office in Cuyahoga Falls.
The offices have been shuttered since the FBI raids. No one has been arrested or charged in the investigation.
Another public informational meeting for holders of Fair Finance investment certificates, sponsored by lawyer David Mucklow, is planned for Thursday night in Green.
Mucklow said Fair Finance investors can explore whether to cause an involuntary bankruptcy of the company.
The meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Green High School, 1474 Boettler Road, Green.
Several lawsuits have been filed to date against Fair Finance by holders of investment certificates seeking to get their money back.
