Fair Finance fiasco lessons on investing

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - In the wake of the Fair Finance fiasco, where 5-thousand investors lost more than $200-million, there's a lesson for anyone with money to invest.

Financial expert Peter Dunn is using his weekly radio show to hammer home the need for you to watch your money closely.

Something Fair Finance victim, 85-year-old Harley Himes of Wooster Ohio wishes he had done. "I had money, my wife had money, and I had a family trust too that had money.

All together we had over 300-thousand," said Himes. All of it gone.

"It was kind of a wacky deal. Number one. As 24-Hour News 8 discovered last year, this could only happen in the state of Ohio," said Dunn.

Because at the DURHAM operated in Ohio, the state didn't require companies like Fair Finance, to have a certified audit of its books.

But as Indiana Securities Commissioner Chris Naylor explained on Pete's show, the hoosier state requires full disclosure. "Such as, the risk factors. The full description of the owners.

And in particular and what was important in this case, exactly how that money was going to be used," Naylor said.

But full disclosure or not, Pete says every investor should be cautious.

"I am not in any way blaming the investors here. But you have to as an investor ask yourself, why can I get 8 or 9 percent return, when everything else is paying one," he said.

Look for insurance. "If you deposit with a bank or a credit union, there are agencies that insure your deposits," Dunn said.

And says Peter, don't put all of your money in one place.

"If you're getting a huge rate of return, which you don't think you should otherwise have. Don't get greedy and put all your money towards it.

Because there's a chance it might not work out," said Dunn. Just ask 5-thousand Fair Finance investors.

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