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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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More revelations about the $8 billion Stanford Financial securities scam are providing clues to how the massive scam managed to stay under the radar for so long. Two employees at the Stanford Financial Group served as senior members of an advisory watchdog body that was set up to help prevent investment fraud.

In a classic case of the foxes guarding the hen house, Lena Stinson, who served as the Stanford Financial Group's director of global compliance, and Frederick Fram, chief operating officer of Stanford Group holdings, served on the membership committee of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA is the largest financial regulatory body overseeing U.S. securities firms. The agency did impose fines on Stanford Financial Group for a series of violations, including falling below the minimum capital requirement. In 2007, Stanford Group was fined $10,000 for distributing marketing materials that failed to disclose both risks and benefits of CD investments in a balanced manner. When the firm fell below the minimum capital requirement for a broker, it was fined $10,000 but no further action was taken to investigate the company, even though a broker falling below the minimum capital requirement is a rare occurrence and one that should have alerted the agency to what was going on at the Stanford group. When you consider that two of the Group's employees occupied influential membership positions on the board at FINRA, you begin to wonder if there was a reason for the leniency shown to Stanford.  The Stanford Group has not responded to these reports.

Allen Stanford took care to develop the right contacts and spread his sphere of influence to lawmakers and, now it seems, even to financial regulators. It's too early to say if the presence of two Stanford insiders at a financial regulatory body, established to prevent investment broker abuse, had some link to how the Stanford Financial fraud was able to remain under cover for so long. But questions are beginning to emerge about how FINRA could have been represented by members of a company that was part of the very group of investment brokers it was meant to regulate.

Stanford Financial CD Fraud

The Stanford investment scam has rocked an already shaky Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which oversees FINRA. While the SEC has continued to mishandle investigations, innocent investors have had their Stanford Financial Mutual Fund and CD accounts frozen by receivers. 

During a crisis like this, it's important to have the expert guidance of an experienced securities attorney. If you have lost money in the Stanford investment fraud, contact a securities attorney at Arnold & Itkin LLP to understand how you can begin the process of recovering your assets. 

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Arnold & Itkin LLP has filed a securities fraud lawsuit against Stanford International Bank Ltd., Stanford Group Company, Stanford Capital Management, Allen Stanford, James Davis and Laura Pendergest-Holt alleging the defendants fraudulently deceived the plaintiff by making false and misleading statements. Their deceit in the investment fraud caused the plaintiff economic loss and Arnold & Itkin LLP is proud to represent them and help recover the lost investment.

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