It looks like Timothy Durham is going to spend the weekend in jail.
The co-owner of now-bankrupt Fair Finance Co. in Akron is expected to remain imprisoned in a Los Angeles federal detention facility until a Monday afternoon detention hearing.
The hearing will determine whether Durham, an Indiana native and now chief executive of comedy movie maker National Lampoon Inc. in Los Angeles, is released on bail, said a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in central California.
Durham and two other men, James Cochran and Rick Snow were indicted and arrested Wednesday on 12 counts of defrauding more than 5,000 Ohio investors out of more than $200 million.
Federal prosecutors and Durham's attorney, Miami lawyer Roy Black, agreed to postpone a court hearing from Thursday to give more time to prepare, according to U.S. Attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek on Friday. That delay means leaving Durham in jail until the hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time, he said.
''It appears he [Durham] is trying to put together a bond package,'' Mrozek said.
Black did not return calls seeking comment.
If Durham is unable to make bond, U.S. marshals will transport him to Indianapolis for further court appearances, Mrozek said. If Durham makes bond, then the judge will order him to appear in Indianapolis by a certain date, he said.
Cochran, co-owner of Fair Finance with Durham, and Snow, the business's chief financial officer, were released under house arrest that includes electronic monitoring. Both men live in the Indianapolis area. Snow is also CFO of National Lampoon and is a former Akron-area accountant.
Durham and Cochran bought Fair Finance in 2002. Federal officials and Fair Finance's bankruptcy trustee allege that Fair Finance was run as a Ponzi scheme since at least 2005. The FBI raided Fair Finance and a related business in Indianapolis in November 2009, effectively shutting down the business and leading to a bankruptcy filing in February 2010.
Ohio residents had purchased more than $200 million in uninsured investment certificates, or short-term loans, from Fair Finance. Fair Finance processed accounts receivables and started as a family-owned small consumer loan business in Akron in 1934.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com.
