A 24-Hour News 8 investigation has found an FBI raid on a Minneapolis internet company has close ties to the federal investigation of Indianapolis businessman Tim Durham. Sources tell News 8 that the Minneapolis raid on a company called Phonebillit, Inc was conducted this week by agents from the FBI's Indianapolis office. Those same sources tell us Phonebillit is accused of what's known as cramming. Cramming happens when a company adds a charge to your phone bill for a service you didn't order, agree to or use. Our investigation found that two of those connected to Phonebillit have close ties to local businessman Tim Durham. One is Cindy Landeen, the other is Indianapolis attorney Neil Lucas. According to documents from the Ohio Department of Securities, Landeen was given a $284,000 dollar loan by Fair Finance, Durham's Akron, Ohio investment company that is now in bankruptcy. Those same documents show that Lucas received $145,000 dollars in loans from Fair Finance. Neither loan has been paid back. A Securities and Exchange Commission filing from 2006 shows Lucas was also a part of the investment group put together by Tim Durham to buy Cellstar Corporation, a company that distributed cellular phones.
So far, the FBI investigation into Durham's dealings has not resulted in any criminal charges against Durham. But more than 5,000 Fair Finance investors lost more than $200 million dollars.
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