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Revision as of 21:15, 22 December 2011

For the Irish actor/director, see Alan Stanford.
Robert Allen Stanford
Born (1950-03-24) March 24, 1950 (age 74)
Mexia, Texas, U.S.
NationalityAmerican/Antiguan
CitizenshipUnited States, Antigua and Barbuda
EducationBaylor University (1974)
Occupation(s)Chairman and CEO Stanford Financial Group
Known forBusinessman in the financial services sector, Alleged Ponzi scheme, Involvement in Stanford Super Series
SpouseSusan Stanford (separated)

Robert Allen Stanford (born March 24, 1950) is a former prominent financier and sponsor of professional sports who is in prison awaiting trial on charges his investment company was a massive Ponzi scheme and fraud. Stanford was the chairman of the now defunct Stanford Financial Group of Companies. A fifth-generation Texan who once resided in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, he holds dual citizenship, being a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda and a United States citizen. Allen Stanford is still in US custody and waiting for his trial to start in September of 2011.

In early 2009, Stanford became the subject of several fraud investigations, and on February 17, 2009, was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with fraud and multiple violations of U.S. securities laws for alleged "massive ongoing fraud" involving $8 billion in certificates of deposits. The FBI raided three of Stanford's offices in Houston, Memphis, and Tupelo, Mississippi. On February 27, 2009, the SEC amended its complaint to describe the alleged fraud as a "massive Ponzi scheme". He "voluntarily surrendered" to authorities on June 18, 2009.

Early years

Stanford grew up in Mexia, Texas. His father, James Stanford, is former mayor of Mexia and a member of the Board of Directors of Stanford Financial Group. His mother, Sammie, is a nurse. After his parents divorced in 1959, Stanford and his brother went to live with their mother. Both of his parents remarried.

Stanford graduated from Eastern Hills High School in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1974, Stanford graduated from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in finance.

Knighthood and revocation

A February 2009 Houston Chronicle article described Stanford as "the leading benefactor, promoter, employer and public persona" of Antigua and Barbuda. Knighted by the country in 2006, Stanford used the title "Sir Allen." Antiguans also generally referred to Stanford using the title. In October 2009 the National Honors Committee of Antigua and Barbuda voted unanimously to strip Stanford of his knighthood, and informed the prime minister of this decision on October 26. On November 2, 2009 the recommendation was forwarded to the Governor-General, Sir James Carlisle. The order to revoke Stanford's knighthood and insignia was approved and was served upon Stanford on April 1, 2010 after Governor-General Dame Louise Lake-Tack, signed the order revoking his knighthood.

Career

Stanford started in business in Waco, where he opened a bodybuilding gym, but it failed. His first success in business was in Houston real estate from the Texas oil bubble burst in the early 1980s. His partner in the real estate venture was his father James. In the 1980s, Stanford and his father made a fortune buying up depressed Houston real estate and selling it years later as the market recovered. When his father retired in 1993, Stanford took control of a company with 500 employees.

Stanford moved to the Caribbean in the 1980s, first to Montserrat and then to Antigua. With the Stanford Finance, he started a bank on the island of Montserrat in 1985, Guardian International Bank, which he moved to Antigua during a British crackdown on Montserrat's offshore-banking industry in 1980s and renamed Stanford International Bank, an affiliate of Stanford Financial.

In early 2007, Stanford and Baldwin Spencer, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda and a former Stanford ally, began verbally feuding in public.

In 2009, Antigua's Financial Services Regulatory Commission has named a British firm, Vantis Business Recovery Services, as a receiver of Stanford International Bank and Stanford Trust Company, the Associated Press reported.

Legal troubles

Fraud allegations

Federal Detention Center, Houston, where Stanford is held
Main article: Stanford Financial Group

Reports surfaced in early February 2009 that the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a major U.S. private-sector oversight body, were investigating Stanford's company Stanford Financial Group, questioning the means by which Stanford International Bank manages consistently to make higher-than-market returns to its depositors. A former executive told SEC officials that Stanford presented hypothetical investment results as actual historical data in sales pitches to clients. Stanford claimed his CDs were as safe as, or safer than, US government-insured accounts.

A leaked cable from the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas reported as early as 2006 that companies under Stanford's control were "rumored to engage in bribery, money laundering, and political manipulation." The U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas at the time was reported to have "managed to stay out of any one-on-one photos with Stanford" during a charity breakfast event.

Federal agents raided the offices of Stanford Financial on February 17, 2009, and treated it as "a kind of crime scene—cautioning people not to leave fingerprints."

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Allen Stanford with "massive ongoing fraud" centered on an eight-billion-dollar investment scheme. Stanford's assets, along with those of his companies, were frozen and placed into receivership by a U.S. federal judge, who also ordered Stanford to surrender his passport.

CNBC later reported that Stanford tried to flee the country on the same day as the raids on his headquarters: he contacted a private jet owner and attempted to pay for a flight to Antigua with a credit card, but was refused because the company would accept only a wire transfer.

FBI agents, acting at the request of the SEC, on February 19 located Stanford at his girlfriend's house near Fredericksburg, Virginia, and served him with civil legal papers filed by the SEC. Stanford was not arrested until June 18, 2009. Stanford has surrendered his passport to federal prosecutors, and he has hired the prominent criminal defence lawyer Brendan Sullivan, who represented Oliver North. The SEC often files civil charges before criminal charges are filed.

Following the allegations, various governments have taken over Stanford's business operations. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) announced that it has taken over the local operations of the Bank of Antigua (BOA) which will be renamed the Eastern Caribbean Amalgamated Bank (ECAB). The Venezuelan Government also took over the Stanford Bank Venezuela, the local branch of Stanford's bank in that nation.

On February 27, the SEC said that Stanford and his accomplices operated a "massive Ponzi scheme", misappropriated billions of investors' money and falsified the Stanford International Bank's records to hide their fraud. "Stanford International Bank's financial statements, including its investment income, are fictional," the SEC said.

In an interview on April 20 at the law offices of Houston criminal attorney Dick DeGuerin, however, Stanford denied any wrongdoing. His companies had been well-run, he claimed, until the SEC "disembowelled" them.

On June 18, 2009, Stanford was taken into custody by FBI agents. According to DeGuerin:

Federal agents in black SUVs surrounded his girlfriend's house this afternoon, and just sat there. I told him to walk out and introduce himself. So he did, and he asked them, 'If you've got a warrant, take me into custody. If you don't, I'm going to Houston.' And they did, so they arrested him.

On June 25, 2009, Stanford appeared in a Houston court and pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud, conspiracy and obstruction. His lawyer claimed that he, Stanford, had resorted to liberal alcohol intake to grapple with the strain of the proceedings.

On August 27, 2009, Stanford was admitted into the Conroe, Texas Regional Medical Center. He was being transported from the private prison in Huntsville, Texas to the Federal Courthouse in Houston to attend a hearing concerning his attorney, who has asked the court to be dismissed from Stanford's case. En route, Stanford complained of a racing heart.

On September 26, 2009 it was reported Stanford had been hospitalized due to injuries sustained in a fight with another inmate at the private Joe Corley Detention Facility. His injuries were described as non-life threatening.

On November 8, 2010, it was reported that Stanford had been hospitalized due to severe injuries sustained when he was brutally assaulted by inmates at a private prison, Joe Corley Detention Center, in Conroe, Texas). Photographs show him with his neck in a brace, his eye half-shut, a bandage wrapped around his head, and shackled hand and foot.

Stanford's trial date was set for January 2011, but this was delayed due to his poor health

Stanford, Federal Bureau of Prisons #35017-183, is incarcerated at the Federal Detention Center, Houston.

In February 2011 Stanford issued a counter-claim of $7.2B of damages against the FBI and the SBC.

In May prosecutors dropped seven charges against Stanford, leaving 14 charges ongoing. A trial date has yet to be set due to his poor health.

As of November 5, 2011, Stanford is being held with an unknown release date at the Federal Medical Center, Butner, North Carolina, part of the Butner Federal Correctional Complex.

Stanford's attorneys claimed that their client was unfit to stand trial due to amnesia resulting from his sustained injuries. On December 22, 2011, he was found competent to stand trial by a U.S. District Judge.

Other business matters

Tax liens

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, affirming much of a United States Tax Court’s ruling on a dispute emanating from Stanford’s days of running the bank in Montserrat. In short, the court found that Stanford and his wife, Susan, under reported their 1990 federal taxes by $423,531.36. Public records show Stanford owes hundreds of millions of dollars in federal taxes. There are four federal tax liens from 2007 and 2008 against Stanford totaling more than $212 million.

Money laundering investigation

The FBI and other agencies have been conducting an ongoing investigation of Stanford since 2008 for possible involvement in money laundering for Mexico's Gulf Cartel.

Trademark infringement lawsuit

In 2001, Stanford said publicly that his great-great-great grandfather was a relative of Leland Stanford, the founder of Stanford University. He funded the restoration of Leland Stanford's mansion in Sacramento, California in an effort "to help preserve an important piece of Stanford family history," and hired his own genealogists to prove he was a member of the Leland Stanford family. ""We are not aware of any genealogical relationship between Allen Stanford and Leland Stanford," said a university spokesperson at the time, and in 2008 filed a trademark infringement suit against Stanford claiming the school’s name was being used “in a way that creates public confusion” and is “injurious.”

Interests

Cricket

Stanford created and funded the Stanford 20/20 Cricket tournament in the West Indies, for which he built his own ground in Antigua. The first Stanford 20/20 Cricket Tournament was held in July and August 2006. The second tournament took place in January and February 2008 with a global television audience of 300 million. Trinidad and Tobago took first place in this tournament. This team also took home the US280k Super Series prize after defeating Middlesex on October 27, 2008.

In June 2008, Stanford and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) signed a deal for five Twenty20 internationals between England and a West Indies all-star XI with a total prize fund of £12.27m (US $20 million) to be awarded to the team that wins the Championship. It was the largest prize ever offered to a team for a single tournament. This was in jeopardy after a row with Digicel, the sponsors of the West Indies cricket team, who were unhappy about sponsorship of the event. Eventually, the dispute was sorted out and the Championship was won by Stanford Superstars, who defeated the England team by 10 wickets, humiliating them in the Twenty 20 arena.

On February 17, 2009, when news of the fraud investigation became public, the ECB and WICB withdrew from talks with Stanford on sponsorship. On February 20 the ECB announced it has severed its ties with Stanford and cancelled all contracts with him.

Media

Stanford owned two newspaper businesses in both Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Kitts and Nevis, which both went by the name of The Sun. Following the scandal, both newspapers put workers on notice that their full operations would cease in April 2010.

See also

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References

  1. "The World's Billionaires: #205 R Allen Stanford". Forbes. September 18, 2008. Retrieved September 18, 2008.
  2. Boutet, Chris (February 17, 2009). "Texas business magnate Allen Stanford facing $8B fraud charge". Retrieved February 23, 2009.
  3. ^ "Stanford, aides failed to appear for testimony: U.S". Reuters. February 17, 2009.
  4. ^ Securities and Exchange Commission, Plaintiff v. Stanford International Bank Ltd., Stanford Group Company, Stanford Capital Management LLC, R. Allen Stanford, James M. Davis, Laura Pendergest-Holt, Defendants, case no. 3:09-cv-00298-L (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Dallas)).
  5. Ross, Brian; Joseph Rhee & Justin Rood (February 18, 2009). "Manhunt: Accused Financier Scammer Stanford Missing, Authorities say Investor Losses Could Rival Madoff Scandal". ABC News.
  6. ^ Driver, Anna (February 27, 2009). "U.S. charges Stanford with massive [[Ponzi scheme]]". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved February 28, 2009. {{cite news}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  7. ^ Bloomberg News (June 19, 2009). "Billionaire Financier Stanford Surrenders to FBI". Washington Post. Retrieved June 19, 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. "Stanford charged with fraud in US". BBC News. June 19, 2009. Retrieved June 20, 2009.
  9. Churcher, Sharon (March 1, 2009). "Revealed: The secret of Allen Stanford's three 'outside wives'". The Daily Mail. London. Retrieved March 1, 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ MacMillan, Robert (February 19, 2009). "Stanford's reappearance brings relief to his folks". Forbes. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
  11. Swartz, Mimi. "The Dark Knight." Texas Monthly. May 2009. Volume 37, Issue 5. 211.
  12. "stanfordfinancial.com". stanfordfinancial.com. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  13. ^ Searcey, Dionne (February 20, 2009). "Stanford's Father 'Can't Believe' Claims". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved February 21, 2009.
  14. Tolson, Mike and Dane Schiller. "Stanford’s life—brash, cash, a dash of flash." Houston Chronicle. February 21, 2009. Retrieved on February 22, 2009.
  15. Staff writer (April 4, 2010). "KNIGHT NO MORE: Antigua revokes Stanford's honour". Caribbean News Agency. Retrieved April 4, 2010. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |trans_title= (help)
  16. Matthew Goldstein (February 13, 2009). "Stanford's Failed Health Club". BusinessWeek. (In 1983, a judgment debt of $31,800 was awarded against Stanford for back rent on a failed health club in Waco.)
  17. ^ Warning signs showed Stanford empire was built on 'threats and innuendos', The Guardian, February 20, 2009
  18. ^ Hipwell, Deirdre (November 2, 2008). "Profile: Allen Stanford; The Texan tycoon is throwing millions at the game from his West Indian base, but he is starting to irk the Establishment". The Sunday Times. London.
  19. Rickey Singh (February 27, 2007). "Spencer, Stanford in war of words". Barbados Daily Nation (newspaper).
  20. Julie Cresswell (February 12, 2009). "U.S. Agents Scrutinize Texas Firm". New York Times.
  21. "Billionaire Stanford's Firm Said to Face U.S. Probe". Bloomberg. February 12, 2009.
  22. Stanford Presented Hypothetical Data as Actual, Executive Says, Bloomberg, February 18, 2009
  23. Stanford Lured Clients With "No Worry" Promise, Rates, Bloomberg, February 19, 2009
  24. "Cricket Breakfast Serves up First Encounter with Allen Stanford". Wikileaks. May 3, 2006. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  25. "Feds Raid Stanford Financial Group Offices". WHBQ. February 17, 2009. Retrieved February 17, 2009.
  26. ^ Baltimore 2009.
  27. SEC Statement on R. Allen Stanford Charges, February 17, 2009
  28. SEC charges Texas financier with 'massive' fraud, Associated Press, February 17, 2009
  29. Fraud case felt in Baton Rouge, The Advocate, February 18, 2009
  30. Stanford Financial Chief Tried to Flee Country: Source, CNBC, February 18, 2009
  31. ELUSIVE FINANCIER LOCATED HERE - Billionaire accused of fraud is found in Stafford, Free Lance-Star, February 20, 2009
  32. Disgraced banker found, served court papers, MSNBC, February 19, 2009
  33. Found! Accused Scammer Stanford Turns in Passport in Washington, ABC News, February 19, 2009
  34. Stanford Found in Virginia and Served Papers, Washington Post, February 20, 2009
  35. ECCB takes over Bank of Antigua (February 22, 2009) Nation Newspaper
  36. Venezuela takes over local bank owned by Stanford (Friday, February 20, 2009), Caribbean Net News
  37. Venezuelans may have $3 billion invested in Stanford, (Thursday, February 19, 2009), Caribbean Net News
  38. New SEC Complaint Says Stanford Ran Ponzi Scheme, Wall Street Journal, February 27, 2009
  39. Disgraced Financier Arrested In Virginia, CBS News, June 18, 2009
  40. "Handcuffed Stanford pleads not guilty". Cricinfo. Thursday, June 25, 2009. Retrieved June 26, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  41. Stanford still hospitalized
  42. "Shamed Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford in hospital after prison fight". The Guardian. London. September 26, 2009. Retrieved September 27, 2009.
  43. "Bloodied and shackled: Controversial cricket tycoon Allen Stanford beaten up by jail inmates as he awaits trial". London: Daily Mail. November 8, 2010.
  44. "Allen Stanford beaten up by jail inmates as he awaits trial | Mail Online". London: Dailymail.co.uk. November 7, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  45. Ashby Jones (November 8, 2010). "Pictures Emerge of Allen Stanford, Post Prison Fight". Wall Street Journal.
  46. "Allen Stanford beaten up by jail inmates as he awaits trial | Mail Online". London: Dailymail.co.uk. November 7, 2010. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  47. "Judge sets Allen Stanford trial for January 2011". Reuters. December 17, 2009.
  48. "BBC News - Allen Stanford ruled unfit to stand trial for fraud". Bbc.co.uk. January 27, 2011. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
  49. "Robert Allen Stanford." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on August 25, 2010.
  50. "BBC News - Allen Stanford files $7.2bn counter-suit". Bbc.co.uk. February 18, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  51. "BBC News - Seven charges against Allen Stanford are dropped". Bbc.co.uk. May 5, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  52. "Bureau of Prisons Inmate Locator". bop.gov. November 5, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  53. "Reuters - Judge weighs whether Allen Stanford fit for trial". Reuters. December 22, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2011.
  54. Matthew Goldstein (February 13, 2009). "Stanford's Failed Health Club". BusinessWeek.
  55. "Disgraced banker Stanford didn't pay his own taxes", Associated Press, February 18, 2009
  56. Charges Against Stanford a Long Time Coming, Offshore Banking Experts Say - Accused Financier Under Federal Drug Investigation, ABC News, February 19, 2009
  57. ^ Stanford Wielded Jets, Junkets and Cricket to Woo Clients, Bloomberg, February 18, 2009
  58. "Stanford Super series gets go-ahead - but who is Allen Stanford?". October 13, 2008. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
  59. Jamie Lillywhite (October 28, 2008). "Middlesex denied in Champions Cup". BBC SPORT. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  60. "England bag £50m Twenty20 bonanza". BBC SPORT. June 11, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  61. "Stanford Superstars win US$20 million jackpot". Stanford 2020. November 1, 2008.
  62. "US tycoon charged over $8bn fraud". BBC News. February 17, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
  63. "Cricket: ECB suspend talks with Stanford over fraud accusation". AFP. February 17, 2009.
  64. England and Wales Cricket Board ends contract with Allen Stanford, Associated Press, February 20, 2009
  65. Antigua Sun Newspaper
  66. St. Kitts Sun Newspaper
  67. Staff writer (April 17, 2010). "Stanford company to close 2 Caribbean newspapers". Business Week. Associated Press. Retrieved April 18, 2010. Two Caribbean newspapers owned by jailed Texas financier Allen Stanford were ordered closed because of financial constraints. The Antigua Sun has operated for 13 years, and the Sun St. Kitts and Nevis nearly six years. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |pmd= and |trans_title= (help)

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