Stanford Accused of Ponzi Scheme
Last Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) amended their complaint against Allen Stanford, James Davis, Laura Pendergest-Holt and the three affiliated companies, accusing Stanford and Davis of executing a Ponzi scheme and Pendergest-Holt of "facilitating" the scheme.
According to the Houston Chronicle, SEC officials say the threesome had been executing the Ponzi scheme for at least a decade. While Stanford and Davis misappropriated billions of dollars, Pendergest-Holt convinced naive investors that she and a team of analysts were keeping tabs on their investments.
According to the SEC, on a monthly basis, Stanford and Davis came up with a set return on Stanford International Bank investments and worked backward from there, falsifying financial documents to support their deception.
By February 2009, $1.6 billion of investor money had been misappropriated by Stanford through fake personal loans to himself, which he threw away in "speculative, unprofitable" businesses he controlled.
Ponzi Scheme Attorney
Considering the various illegal activities Stanford was involved in, knowing where to being when involved in an investment fraud can be exhausting. An experienced securities attorney can help you sort through Stanford's mess and recover your lost investments.
If you have lost money in the Stanford Investment fraud or Ponzi scheme, contact a securites attorney at Arnold & Itkin LLP for a free consultation.
