Stanford Financial Group

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Alleged Ponzi Schemer Judged Unfit to Stand Trial

R. Allen Stanford 'mentally impaired,' judge decides

(Newser) - Jailed Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford is mentally impaired and incompetent to stand trial, a federal judge ruled yesterday. Psychiatrists testified that Stanford, who is accused of masterminding a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, is suffering from a major depressive disorder, an addiction to anti-anxiety medication, and a brain injury he...

Stanford Indicted for $7B Ponzi Scheme

(Newser) - Alleged billionaire fraudster Robert Allen Stanford and six of his associates were indicted today on charges that they ran a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, the AP reports. Stanford turned himself in to authorities yesterday. “A fair jury will find him not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” Stanford’s...

Stanford Surrenders to FBI
 Stanford Surrenders to FBI 
Jun 19, 2009 12:26 AM CDT

Stanford Surrenders to FBI

Alleged fraudster turns himself in after grand jury hands down criminal charges

(Newser) - Sir Robert Allen Stanford turned himself in to authorities soon after criminal charges were filed against him yesterday, the BBC reports. The billionaire financier is now in FBI custody, according to his lawyer. Stanford, whose firm Stanford Financial was shut down by authorities earlier this year, already faces civil charges...

Stanford Exec Faces First Criminal Charge

Probe of alleged Ponzi scheme nabs chief investment officer

(Newser) - A federal grand jury in Houston yesterday handed up the first criminal indictment in Stanford Financial Group's alleged Ponzi scheme, reports the Houston Chronicle. Chief investment officer Laura Pendergest-Holt, 35, faces two counts of obstruction. She and boss Allen Stanford already face accusations in a civil suit by the SEC....

'Devastated' Stanford: I'm No Thief

Billionaire denies running Ponzi scheme, points finger at former CFO

(Newser) - “As God is my witness, there is no Ponzi scheme," accused swindler Sir Robert Allen Stanford told the Houston Chronicle yesterday. His financial companies were well-run before the government seized and "disemboweled" them, claimed the billionaire. If any fraud was committed at Stanford Financial, it was done...

Stanford Pulled in $5B While SEC Dithered

Feds ignored employee warnings, fumbled over jurisdiction

(Newser) - When the Securities and Exchange Commission sent probing questionnaires in 2005 to investors who’d bought certificates of deposit from Stanford Group, panic set in. “Then it all seemed to go away,” says one former Stanford employee. Concerns over jurisdiction stayed the SEC’s hand for almost 4...

Tearful Stanford 'Madder Than Hell' at Ponzi Charges

Tycoon expects indictment in 2 weeks

(Newser) - Sir Robert Allen Stanford expects an indictment from the feds in a couple of weeks, but maintained his innocence in an interview with ABC News. The disgraced financier cried and told his interlocutor, “I will punch you in the mouth” if he mentioned reports that Stanford laundered drug money....

Stanford Scam Leaves Artist Without Gold for Show

$3.3M of bullion for Burden frozen by feds

(Newser) - The US government’s ongoing investigation into Allen Stanford has ensnared an unlikely victim: the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills. Artist Chris Burden was to open an exhibition featuring 220 pounds of solid gold, worth $3.3 million, that the gallery purchased for him. But the company they bought it...

Stanford Accounts to Remain Frozen

(Newser) - A federal judge ruled today that thousands of investor accounts with R. Allen Stanford's financial companies will remain frozen for another 10 days, while a court-appointed receiver said he's developing a plan to return some of the money to its owners. Stanford's companies have been in receivership since the Securities...

Feds: Stanford Ran Massive Ponzi Scheme

Chief investment officer freed on 300K bond after night in jail

(Newser) - Federal officials have labeled shamed financier R. Allen Stanford’s operation a Ponzi scheme for the first time, the Houston Chronicle reports. The accusation—meaning the company used cash from new investors to pay older ones—came in an amended civil fraud complaint from the SEC yesterday alleging Stanford and...

Stanford Officer Held on $300K Bail

(Newser) - Laura Pendergest-Holt, the chief investment officer for disgraced financier Robert Allen Stanford’s firm, is being held on $300,000 bail, the Houston Chronicle reports. Her family is attempting to come up with the $30,000 cash necessary to free her. Holt spent last night in prison after being accused...

SEC Overlooked Stanford Fraud in 2003

Former employee warned agency, others of 'Ponzi scheme'

(Newser) - A former employee of Sir Allen Stanford warned the SEC in 2003 of an “illegal Ponzi scheme” involving his firms, but regulators brushed off the allegations, the Financial Times reports. The whistleblower also told another regulatory body that one of Stanford’s companies was “engaged in a Ponzi...

Stanford Bank in Antigua Missing $8B

'It appears to be a Ponzi scheme,' investigator says

(Newser) - Investigators rummaging around Allen Stanford's Antiguan bank have confirmed media reports that $8 billion is missing, the Times of London reports. “The $8 billion you hear about in the media isn’t there,” one official told customers outside the Stanford International Bank. "It appears to be a...

Stanford Loses Cozy Caribbean Domain

Mexican drug lord laundered money there

(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...

Yanks' Damon Stung by Stanford Scandal

(Newser) - Two New York Yankees—Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady— have had their finances frozen by the SEC in connection with the Stanford fraud scandal, Fox Sports reports. Both players kept their money in Stanford banks, and the SEC says they should have access to it in a few days. But...

Stanford's Dad: 'I Hope He's Not a Crook'

(Newser) - “I can’t believe these allegations,” says James Stanford. The 81-year-old has recently been subpoenaed by the SEC about the actions of his now-infamous son, R. Allen Stanford, who’s accused of an $8 billion fraud scheme. Stanford sits on the Stanford Financial board but hasn’t been...

FBI Finds Stanford in Virginia
 FBI Finds Stanford in Virginia  
updated
Feb 19, 2009 4:11 PM CST

FBI Finds Stanford in Virginia

(Newser) - Manhunt over: FBI agents located fugitive financier Sir R. Allen Stanford near Fredericksburg, Va., today and served him with civil legal papers on behalf of the SEC. Stanford, accused of bilking investors of $8 billion, is not under arrest and remains free. He did, however, turn over his passport to...

Obama Gives Stanford Money to Charity
Obama Gives Stanford Money to Charity
Feb 19, 2009 12:06 PM CST

Obama Gives Stanford Money to Charity

Alleged fraud artist donated to many pols, including McCain

(Newser) - Barack Obama has donated the $4,600 in campaign contributions he received from R. Allen Stanford to charity, the LA Times reports. Obama is one of many politicians the alleged fraudster courted; another was John McCain, who promised yesterday that he too would return or donate the funds. Stanford was...

Venezuela Seizes Stanford Bank, Calls It Healthy

Country provided up to 30% of group's funds

(Newser) - Venezuela has taken control of a bank run by alleged fraudster R. Allen Stanford and his Stanford International Group, the New York Times reports. A banking regulator said the retail bank is essentially healthy, but Venezuelans are still fretting. “When Venezuelan forces say nothing is wrong,” explained one...

Stanford May Have Ties to Mexican Drug Cartel

FBI money laundering probe predated SEC swoop on financier

(Newser) - Fugitive financier R. Allen Stanford was under investigation over possible ties to a Mexican drug cartel long before the SEC swooped in on his firm, federal authorities tell ABC News. The FBI and other agencies began probing Stanford on suspicion of money laundering a year ago, after Mexican authorities detained...

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