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Stanford Loses Cozy Caribbean Domain

Mexican drug lord laundered money there

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 21, 2009 1:11 PM CST
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(Newser) – R. Allen Stanford is an institution in Antigua—so much so that some residents call the Caribbean island “Stanford Land”—and now the country is reeling from the SEC fraud case against him. The country has seized Stanford’s bank, but it’s still facing questions about its cozy relationship with the billionaire. When the government created a new regulatory authority, for example, it tapped Sir Allen to run it.

That authority was created to try to clean up Antigua’s dodgy reputation, even though US regulators had expressed unease about Stanford’s sway on the island and its operations. In 1999, he gave the Drug Enforcement Agency $3.1 million after discovering that an ex-Mexican drug lord had laundered money there, and the Treasury put Antigua on its money-laundering watch list.

Bank of Antigua's customers form a line outside the St. John's branch in the Caribbean island of Antigua, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009.
Bank of Antigua's customers form a line outside the St. John's branch in the Caribbean island of Antigua, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009.   (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
A customer of Stanford Bank speaks on the phone outside a bank office in Caracas, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009.
A customer of Stanford Bank speaks on the phone outside a bank office in Caracas, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009.   (AP Photo/Howard Yanes)
R. Allen Stanford walks on the pitch during the Stanford 20/20 cricket tournament in St. John's, Antigua, Nov. 1, 2008.
R. Allen Stanford walks on the pitch during the Stanford 20/20 cricket tournament in St. John's, Antigua, Nov. 1, 2008.   (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
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Money • World

 
fraud • money laundering • Antigua • Stanford Financial Group • Robert Allen Stanford • Bank of Antigua

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