Another day, another Ponzi.
Today, a front page story in The Wall Street Journal heralded a Ponzi investigation into Indiana businessman Timothy Durham, who has been a large benefactor of Republicans, including Indiana Gov. Mitch Mitchell.
Durham professed his innocence. But it’s the usual set of allegations about a guy with way too much stuff – including a car collection, a 30,000 square-foot mansion, and a Peter Max portrait of himself – and a financial business that could be used as a personal bank to pay for some of this stuff as well as other personal business interests.
What makes this alleged Ponzi different, though, is that some of its victims are Amish, according to a report in the Akron Beacon Journal.
A group of anonymous investors, some of whom are said to be Amish, have sued Durham’s Fair Finance Co., attempting to recover $2.2 million, the newspaper reports.
The Amish have long been known for their separation from the non-Amish world, going so far as to shun the automobile and even electricity. They’ve even stayed away from such modern financial arrangements as insurance.
But today even the Amish can get taken in an alleged Ponzi scheme? And what kind of guy takes advantage of the Amish, who are always so industrious, making furniture and quilts?
I can only shudder.
