Stanford Denies Investment Fraud Charges
In his first response to investment fraud charges brought against him by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), billionaire Texas financier, Allen Stanford, has denied masterminding the $8 million fraud.
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It's the first formal statement we’ve heard from the man at the center of the Stanford investment scam. In the response, Stanford denies each of the allegations listed by the SEC. He also announced he will be representing himself in court due to the freezing of his assets by court-appointed receiver Ralph Janvey.
Allen Stanford stands accused of scamming investors out of billions of dollars by conducting a huge Ponzi scheme in which he sold purportedly safe certificates of deposit and promised ultra-high returns. While he has yet to be criminally charged, his chief investment officer, Laura Pendergest-Holt, remains the only person involved in the fraud to have criminal charges filed against her.
Stanford’s predicament – not having money to hire a lawyer – may seem strange, but he is not without company. His situation is similar to that faced by other investment fraudsters like Arthur Nadel. Nadel has also been forced to represent himself due to lack of funds. Bernard Madoff, on the other hand, was able to hire a lawyer using funds believed to be unrelated to the infamous Madoff investment fraud. In 1989, the Supreme Court ruled that a person's right to counsel was not violated if his assets were seized, depriving him of the ability to hire a lawyer. Experts believe that with no money and no lawyer, Stanford will be less likely to avoid indictment. He will probably find that conceiving and masterminding the $8 billion Stanford financial fraud was far easier than figuring out how to free himself from the tangled web he's woven.
Stanford Investment Fraud Attorneys
Protecting your investments after they have been involved in a securities fraud like the one Stanford operated, can be hard to do on your own. These are complex legal cases that involve thousands of other duped investors and expert attorneys. Being represented by an experienced securities attorney can help you recover lost investments.
If you have lost money in the Stanford Financial Group fraud or any other securities fraud, contact a securities attorney at Arnold & Itkin LLP to discuss your options for compensation.
