The Russell Foundation, an Indianapolis-based organization founded in 2003 by Michael Russell, was ostensibly a religiously affiliated non-profit intended to provide community leadership and poverty relief. Russell admitted today that it instead served as the vehicle for roughly $1.7 million in fraudulent activity.
In admitting his guilt, the Russell acknowledged that in early 2007, he and his alleged co-conspirators solicited $702,000 in investment money from an Indianapolis victim. The victim was told by Russell that he planned to fund the foundation by investing in ethanol production through a company called Indiana Ethanol Capital Investments, which was organized as a limited liability corporation in February 1, 2007, with Paul Bateman listed as president. Bateman also allegedly served as “chief administrative officer” and the “chief corporate officer.”
Russell has admitted that he and his alleged co-conspirators then met with the victim to urge him to invest in the company. Bateman allegedly accepted five checks totaling $702,000 between February and April 2007, almost all of which was deposited in Bateman’s personal bank account and spent on expenses other than the production and distribution of ethanol over the next 45 days.
Russell also admitted that in 2007, he and his alleged co-conspirators again solicited money from the victim, successfully urging him to invest $1 million in a corporate bond for the Russell Foundation. Russell now admits that this money was spent over the course of 33 days after it was received by the defendants.
FBI press release link: click here