Stanford Financial Group news stories on Newser

Alleged Ponzi Schemer Judged Unfit to Stand Trial

Rob Quinn — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 04:55:17 CST

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

Harry Kimball — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:56:14 CDT

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 lawyer said. He...

Stanford Surrenders to FBI

Rob Quinn — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:26:04 CDT

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

Jason Farago — Wed, 13 May 2009 08:26:35 CDT

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

Rob Quinn — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 02:25:03 CDT

“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 by its former...

Stanford Pulled in $5B While SEC Dithered

Kevin Spak — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:13:18 CDT

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 years, Bloomberg reports, while...

Tearful Stanford 'Madder Than Hell' at Ponzi Charges

Harry Kimball — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:00:29 CDT

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. “It...

Stanford Scam Leaves Artist Without Gold for Show

Jason Farago — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:00:00 CST

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 from...

Stanford Accounts to Remain Frozen

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:40:02 CST

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...