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.
The investors are seeking repayments of the money they lost, which they say is in the millions of dollars. Lawyers for the defendants insist that it is much too early to file an 
Investors who wish to see their frozen funds released
A few employees from the Houston headquarters will be kept on long enough to wrap things up at the office and close the company down. After, however, they will also be out of a job..jpg)
According to Business Insurance, contrary what you might expect, most of these lawsuits were not filed in the latter half of 2008, when the extent of the credit crisis became clear. Rather, most of the cases were filed in the first half of the year, 
In a different lawsuit, J. Mark Brewer sued to SEC in an attempt to get access to frozen retirement accounts. His funds are held by a clearing firm called Pershing, who handled Stanford transactions. Brewer argues that, although, Stanford may be guilty, his dealings with Pershing have nothing to do with his situation. Brewer is one of many investors unhappy with the freezing of their Pershing assets. Some of the others, however, have taken a different approach; they are on board with the SEC's civil lawsuit in Dallas.
In a classic case of the foxes guarding the hen house, Lena Stinson, who served as the 
According to insiders, nearly half of all 
Much like investors, senior employees at Stanford had limited access to the bank's investment methods themselves. At least one employee, Michael Zarich, told .jpg)
equaling the donation Stanford made to his election campaign to charity. Several lawmakers have also followed suit. According to sources, the Stanford Financial Group spent approximately $4.8 million in donations to American politicians over the past decade. Stanford worked hard to spread his influence in American politics. He, not only donated to the Obama, McCain and Clinton campaigns, but in 2002, donated heavily to Florida senator Bill Nelson who served as vice chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the time Congress was debating the introduction of harsher anti-investment fraud laws. .jpg)
Their reasons for suspicion are not hard to understand; it all boils down to common sense. Brokers have confirmed that they were suspicious of the incredibly high returns the Stanford financial scheme promised investors, coupled with the minimal risk company officials promised investors. Many former brokers who worked for Stanford left, unable to digest the unsavory practices at the firm. The suspicions about the flamboyant Stanford were confirmed over the past few days as his offices were seized and cases were filed against him. As the Stanford Financial fraud unfolds his ploy to gain investments becomes more clear.
The Antigua-based Stanford International Bank Limited assured clients that it’s certificates of deposit were as secure as “U.S. government insured accounts”. As SEC agents and U.S. marshals raided the company's Houston office, investors had already begun to reveal the attraction the 