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A Fishers attorney has been suspended from the practice of law after being found guilty of nine felony charges in August, including one count of money laundering, according to the Indiana Supreme Court.
Darrin Wesley Smith Blaine has been suspended from the practice effective Oct. 22, an order from the Indiana Supreme Court states.
In 2023, Blaine was charged with nine, level 5 felony charges stemming from accusations dating back to June 2020. These charges include three counts of security fraud, one count of unlawful sale of a security, three respective counts of being an unregistered broker-dealer, securities agent, and investment adviser, one count of money laundering and one count of corrupt business influence.
Blaine was chief legal officer of the company Akamai Physics Inc. and its subsidiary, Porrima Photonix Inc., when the crimes occurred, according to court documents. He was also chairman of the Laser Tech Investment Club, which was created to draw new investors to the companies.
The scheme was to create the investment club and sell it a $1 million promissory note from Akamai Physics, court documents state. Blaine was not registered to sell securities, and the security wasn’t registered in Indiana.
As each investment club “partner” joined, they wired their investment money directly to Akamai Physics, Porrima Photonix or Blaine. Blaine committed securities fraud by intentionally not disclosing that Akamai filed for bankruptcy. He also used some of the money from investors on personal loans, to pay previous investors in a pyramid scheme and offer kickbacks for Akamai and Porrima leaders, according to court documents.
Eight Indiana-based investors lost approximately $680,000 to Blaine. More than $1.4 million in funds were collected from investors nationwide, court documents state.
Blaine was found guilty of all nine charges in August and sentenced to serve 14 years with the Indiana Department of Correction. He filed an appeal to the case in September.
The Indiana Lawyer reached out to both Blaine and the attorney representing him in his appeal of the criminal charges. Neither immediately responded Friday afternoon to requests for comment.
The case is In the Matter of Darrin Wesley Smith Blaine, 26S-DI-308.
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