Allen Stanford $50 billion ponzi scheme

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Allen Stanford Missing: Federal Authorities Do Not Know His Whereabouts

UPDATE: MSNBC is reporting that Allen Stanford tried to hire a private jet to flee the US.

According to ABC News, federal authorities do not know the current whereabouts of Texas banker R. Allen Stanford, who was accused Tuesday by the SEC of trying to bilk some 50,000 customers out of $8 billion. His apparent disappearance comes despite raids Tuesday of Stanford's offices in Houston, Memphis, and Tupelo, Miss.

ABC also reports that federal authorities say the case could grow as big as the $50 billion ponzi scheme allegedly perpetrated by Bernie Madoff

For Stanford's other controversy, click here.

For more information on Stanford's political donations, click here.

For seven surprising shockers from the SEC's complaint on Stanford, click here.

For a slideshow of Stanford's influential circle of friends, including powerful Senator Chris Dodd and golf superstar Vijay Singh, click here.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/18/r-allen-smith-missing-fed_n_167820.html

Look at this from the NY Times:

The current S.E.C. charges stem from an inquiry opened in October 2006 after a routine exam of Stanford Group, according to Stephen J. Korotash, an associate regional director of enforcement with the agency"s Fort Worth office.

He said the S.E.C. "stood down" on its investigation at the time at the request of another federal agency, which he declined to name, but resumed the inquiry in December 2008.

Is the entire US economy of the last eight years a pile of cards ? Another $50 Billion dollar scheme which has come apart.

They need to investigate the living dayouts out of the Republican Texas senator, the democrate chair of commence board and whomever pull the plug on the inital investigation. My moneys on Tom Delay whom recieved the largest contributions during that time.

I say bring back tortue enchanced interrogation and clean house.
 
Question: why this distinction?

Since Clinton ? Since Reagon ? Most of the poltical contribution and massive corruption probably the result of Kstreet true the democrates lost power due to the repeated corruption and saw the republicans retake power. However the explosive expantion of Kstreet occured with the last eight years.

Well see how far back this goes as the story is breaking.
 
Is the entire US economy of the last eight years a pile of cards ? Another $50 Billion dollar scheme which has come apart.

I'm only surprised that it took this long for a second Ponzi scheme to be "found" (read: collapse). But then again, dozens of other banks received a total of a few hundred billion, to avoid that very same collapse - guess what all those were. Hell, I'll answer: Ponzi schemes.
 
I'm only surprised that it took this long for a second Ponzi scheme to be "found" (read: collapse). But then again, dozens of other banks received a total of a few hundred billion, to avoid that very same collapse - guess what all those were. Hell, I'll answer: Ponzi schemes.

Many of the largest banks would pay back the tarp money immediately, if they could, as most are in no danger of collapse.
 
The SEC said that the Stanford International Bank - the largest in the Caribbean - sold approximately $8bn worth of certificates of deposit to investors, promising "improbable and unsubstantiated high interest rates".
If it sounds to good to be true it probably is. Especially when it's done on a island in the Caribbean claiming FDIC insurance. What happened to people doing due diligence? :crazyeye:
 
They'll find him, try him, right before he goes to prison, he'll get a heart attack, and have a funeral attended by the Bush family and mayor of Houston.
 
Is the entire US economy of the last eight years a pile of cards ? Another $50 Billion dollar scheme which has come apart.

They need to investigate the living dayouts out of the Republican Texas senator, the democrate chair of commence board and whomever pull the plug on the inital investigation. My moneys on Tom Delay whom recieved the largest contributions during that time.

Wonderful, more people robbed of their life savings. /sarcasm

Sounds like Enron all over again, though maybe a several times more of a ripoff, and there was the issue of Enron making million dollar campaign contributions also.
 
S.E.C. Fines Didn’t Avert Stanford Group Case

WASHINGTON — Years before the Stanford Group was accused in a worldwide fraud, American financial regulators found significant securities violations at the company that some experts say were telltale signs of deeper problems. But each time the regulators ultimately let the company off with relatively small fines,

“A net capital violation is a major, major, major red flag,” he said. “Generally when a firm has a net capital violation, it’s already on the brink of bankruptcy,” he said.

But since 2000, Mr. Stanford and his firm, along with its employees and its political action committee, have given $2.4 million in campaign contributions, according to the Center for Responsive Politics — about two-thirds to Democrats. Top recipients, the center said, included Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, $45,900; and Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, $28,150.

Campaign finance records also show that in 2008 Mr. Stanford gave at least $28,000 to committees controlled by Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York. Mr. Rangel has been an outspoken champion of legislation benefiting the economic interests of Caribbean countries and residents.

Mr. Stanford and entities associated with him have also courted lawmakers with trips. For example, the Stanford Group took Senator John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, and his wife on a three-day trip to Antigua and Barbuda for a “financial services industry fact-finding mission” shortly after the 2004 election, according to data compiled by LegiStorm, which tracks Congressional ethics disclosures.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/19/business/19stanford.html?scp=4&sq=Allen Stanford&st=cse

Mr. Stanford’s offshore banking activities caught the attention of law enforcement agencies dating as far back as 1998. In its complaint, filed in Federal District Court in Dallas, the S.E.C. accused Mr. Stanford, Mr. Davis and Laura Pendergest-Holt, the chief investment officer of both organizations, with misrepresenting the safety and liquidity of the C.D.’s. The Antiguan bank and its registered broker-dealer in Houston, which sold the C.D.’s, were also named.

His activities there drew the eye of American law enforcement agencies in the late 1990s, when regulators were closely scrutinizing the growth of the offshore banking sector, after a couple of money-laundering scandals had hit the industry.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s committees paid for flights on Stanford’s jets at least 16 times from 2003 through 2006, Bloomberg said, citing Mr. DeLay’s financial disclosures.

The current S.E.C. charges stem from an inquiry opened in October 2006 after a routine exam of the Stanford Group, according to Mr. Korotash of the S.E.C.

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2...-chief-is-mum/?scp=2&sq=Allen Stanford&st=cse

This is dizzying the amount of people implicated. The inital investigations were 1998 the other major investigation was in 2005 and 2006. Hell John McCain got more money then Charles Rangel. The poltical fallout this time had better not be sweept under the rug.
 
If it sounds to good to be true it probably is. Especially when it's done on a island in the Caribbean claiming FDIC insurance. What happened to people doing due diligence? :crazyeye:

It is called greed. So many people wanted to have easy money.
 
So basically of the three candidates for President last year, the only one not tied with this slimeball was Obama. But Clinton's SOS.

Lovely.

For the record, there are some really awesome and philanthropic capitalists. They don't make news though
 
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