by Deb Cupples | The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reports:
"The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged Robert Allen Stanford and three of his companies for orchestrating a fraudulent, multi-billion dollar investment scheme centering on an $8 billion CD program.
"Stanford's companies include Antiguan-based Stanford International Bank (SIB), Houston-based broker-dealer and investment adviser Stanford Group Company (SGC), and investment adviser Stanford Capital Management. The SEC also charged SIB chief financial officer James Davis as well as Laura Pendergest-Holt, chief investment officer of Stanford Financial Group (SFG), in the enforcement action.Stanford's companies include Antiguan-based Stanford International Bank (SIB), Houston-based broker-dealer and investment adviser Stanford Group Company (SGC), and investment adviser Stanford Capital Management. The SEC also charged SIB chief financial officer James Davis as well as Laura Pendergest-Holt, chief investment officer of Stanford Financial Group (SFG), in the enforcement action....
"'As we allege in our complaint, Stanford and the close circle of family and friends with whom he runs his businesses perpetrated a massive fraud based on false promises and fabricated historical return data to prey on investors,' said Linda Chatman Thomsen, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement." (See the rest of the SEC's statement here)
Keep in mind that alleged incidents of fraud like this one and Bernie Madoff's may be coming to light now, but the fraudulent conduct was allegedly occurring for years before most people got wise to it.
Doesn't it make you wonder what kind of investment-fraud schemes will hit the headlines next? I hope that people will be careful with their money and refrain from handing out their trust to the undeserved.
I certainly hope that President Obama sets the right (i.e., investor-friendly) tone at the SEC -- and that Congress will stop under-funding the agency.
Former SEC Branch Chief Pat Huddleston at the Investor's WatchBlog sums up the Stanford Story this way:
"A prominent investment adviser, and host of the WGN radio show, “On the Money” which ran from 1999-2006, is being accused of running a Ponzi scheme. Just like Madoff, he seemed so knowledgeable and trustworthy, that none of the investors who gave them their money suspected a thing. Because he gave financial advice on his program, he was thought of as an “expert”.
Yes, it usually is the most trusted guys who have the best opportunities to defraud investors.
Memeorandum has commentary.
Other Buck Naked Politics Posts:
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* Business as Usual: Doctors Charged with $10 Million Medicare Fraud
* AT & T to Pay $8.2 Million to Settle False Claims Act Case
* More Iraq Contractor Fraud: Shipping Company to Pay $26 Million to Settle Case
* Investigators Look into Bribery by Senior Military Officers -- but Should Look Higher
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