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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.

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.

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Securities attorneys representing investors duped in the Stanford investment fraud are getting ready to persuade Ralph Janvey, the U.S. receiver of Allen Stanford's assets, to release frozen assets. Also, the two receivers in the U.S. and Antigua are locking horns over Stanford Financial Group asset control and the man at the center of the scandal seems to have zeroed in on a criminal lawyer to represent him.

Janvey has released a set of procedures that investors, who believe their accounts should not be frozen as part of the freeze on all Stanford assets, can use to prove their money was not tainted by the scandal and should, therefore, be released. The money in question is tied up in funds and amounts to a total of $1.7 billion dollars. Investors who wish to see their frozen funds released will have to agree not to sue the group elsewhere and to abide by the court's decisions. Earlier in March, Judge David Godbey released approximately 28,000 of the frozen investor accounts that amounted to over $4 billion. The other investors will have to furnish details about the interest they earned during their investment and what they did with the money. They will also be required to convince Janvey that their funds are clean and should be released.

Meanwhile, the dispute over who exactly controls the Stanford Financial Group's assets in Antigua continues with Janvey and Antigua government appointed receiver, Nigel Hamilton Smith. The receivers continue to play tug-of-war over the assets. Janvey insists his control extends to all Stanford Group assets, including those in Antigua, while Smith claims he is the sole receiver for the assets. The two are expected to meet soon to come to an agreement. 

Finally, capping off days of hectic legal activity, Allen Stanford is likely to be represented by a Houston-based criminal attorney. The lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, has not formally been appointed as the billionaire's lawyer because Stanford has no money to retain legal services.

Stanford Financial Fraud

Losing money in an investment scam can be a painful experience with the nightmare seemingly never ending. The process of recovering your money is not an easy one and can it take weeks and even months for legal experts to build a case. It is extremely important to have an experienced securities attorney on your side to represent you and help you through tough times.

If you have lost money in the Stanford Financial Group scam, contact a securities attorney at Arnold & Itkin LLP for a free evaluation of your case.

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A Dallas judge is astonished by an artist's request to release the hold on 100 bars of solid gold tied up in the Stanford investment fraud investigation, not for financial reasons, but for art's sake.

According to Times Online, a controversial UK artist, Chris Burden planned an exhibition at Gagosian Gallery in California that would require 100 gold bars. The exhibition is called "One Kilo, One Ton" and is based on the "duality...of weights and measures" and "the layers of meaning embedded in the known hierarchy of materials."

In January, Burden and the Gagosian Gallery purchased the gold, through Stanford Coins & Bullion, from Dillon Gage Group, a rare coins and metal dealer unrelated to Stanford or any of his businesses. The parties agreed that Burden and the Gagosian would wire the payment for $3.3 million worth of gold to Stanford Coins & Bullion who would then transfer the money to Dillon Gage Group. From there the gold would be shipped to the gallery in time for Burden's exhibition on Saturday, March 7th.

Following the raid of Stanford's firms for his alleged $8 billion investment fraud, all assets and transactions related to Stanford, both business and personal, were frozen. This includes the gold bar transaction.

The Gagosian argued they were "unfairly caught up in the litigation" and that their transaction had nothing to do with investing, certificates of deposit or anything in question regarding the Stanford case.

Unfortunately, for Burden and the Gagosian, the freeze was not overturned and the exhibition has been postponed until further notice. Luckily, receiver Ralph Janvey, is working diligently to release accounts that are not in question and the freeze is set to be lifted in March 12th.

Chris Burden, 62, is well known for his controversial works including: shooting himself in the arm and being crucified atop a Volkswagen Beetle.

Securities Attorney

The freeze of Stanford's assets has affected many innocent people in various ways. If you have lost investments or access to funds due to the Stanford investment fraud, contact an experienced securities attorney at Arnold & Itkin LLP for a free consultation.

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