Logan Man Convicted of Securities Fraud

SALT LAKE CITY- On August 30, 2022, after a three-day trial, a federal jury in the District of Utah found Thomas Fairbanks, 69, of Logan, guilty of securities fraud as a result of his fraudulent activities as the CEO and founder of SupplyLine Partners, located in Logan. 

At trial, federal prosecutors presented evidence that Fairbanks fraudulently represented to investors that Supplyline Partners’ purpose was to work as a cooperative in funding the financial needs of local businesses, and then leveraging those businesses’ assets to generate cash flow, which would benefit the local community. SupplyLine was not registered as a business with the State of Utah and neither SupplyLine nor Fairbanks were ever licensed to sell securities. In order to induce victims into investing in his scheme, Fairbanks promised investors that they would receive a six percent annual return on their investments; that investors would receive an accounting on their investments; that investors could liquidate their investment at any time; that invested funds would go towards funding SupplyLine’s lending capital; and that SupplyLine’s investments were collateralized by assets of other businesses. However, none of these representations were true.   

Fairbanks offered and sold investment opportunities in SupplyLine to at least two Utah residents and collected money from them, some of which he used to fund his own business enterprises and to make loans to a realty company where he worked as a real estate agent. In total, victims lost more than $600,000.  

Assistant United States Attorneys Ruth Hackford-Peer and Kevin Sundwall tried the case against the defendant. Investigators from the Utah Division of Securities conducted the investigation with assistance from the FBI.