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Federal criminal authorities are investigating whether a former U.S. securities regulator inappropriately represented alleged fraudster Allen Stanford after he left the agency in 2005. Spencer Barasch, former head of enforcement for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Fort Worth, Texas, is being probed by the U.S. Attorney's Office and Federal Bureau of Investigation, SEC enforcement director Robert Khuzami and SEC Inspector General David Kotz told lawmakers on Friday. The criminal probe follows SEC internal findings that Barasch made numerous requests after he left the SEC to represent Stanford and was turned down each time. Barasch persisted in his requests...

The Securities and Exchange Commission knew since 1997 that R. Allen Stanford likely was operating a Ponzi scheme but waited 12 years to bring fraud charges against the billionaire, the agency inspector general said Friday. An SEC enforcement official who helped quash investigations of Stanford's business later legally represented him... The findings were the latest in a string of black eyes for the SEC, following a series of reports issued by Kotz's office last year that chronicled in detail how the agency bungled five investigations of financier Bernard Madoff's business between June 1992 and December 2008.

Rep. Gary Meeks (D-NY), already under scrutiny for his relationship with Ponzi billionaire Allen Stanford, is deeply involved with a nonprofit group in Queens, New York called New Direction Local Development Corporation. Our review of IRS tax returns, New York state budget records, and other documents suggests that New Directions does little development. Instead, it appears to operate to the benefit of Meeks and a state Senator named Malcolm Smith, and much of the money it has raised is simply unaccounted for. New Direction has received at least $56,500 in New York state taxpayer funds since 2001, at the direction...

It took a long time for anyone to point out an obvious phenomenon about the $60 billion Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, the largest in history. It was that Madoff victimized thousands upon thousands of his fellow American Jews. By the time that phenomenon was recognized, it was too late for Americans to properly digest the intellectual nutrients it offered. The story was over. But now it turns out that another Madoff-like Ponzi operation, this one the world’s second largest, also laid financial waste to Jews. This clearly is no one-off phenomenon. As a story, the Stanford Financial Group of banks...

Reuters newswire service recently published a story reporting that accused swindler Allen Stanford has been moved to a federal lockup facility in downtown Houston in order "to be closer to his attorneys." In fact in a fairly long story as wire copy goes, Reuters reports all sorts of details of Stanford's alleged financial crimes and current status. There is only one little detail that Reuters seems to have forgotten to report. Allen Stanford was a major fundraiser and lobbyists for some of the biggest Democrats in the country. There isn't a single mention, for instance, that Stanford lobbied Congress for...

The jailed Texas billionaire Sir Allen Stanford has been hospitalised after a jailhouse brawl with another inmate. Stanford was badly beaten but his injuries were not said to be life-threatening. The incident occurred at the privately run Joe Corley detention centre north of Houston, Texas. A US Marshalls spokesman said: "He got into an altercation with another inmate. He's being examined by medical staff and treated for his injuries." His lawyer Kent Schaffer added: "Mr Stanford is fine. Contrary to reports, he is not in intensive care at the hospital. "I understand his injuries are not serious enough to keep...

The industry self-regulatory organization that was supposed to police the brokers at the Stanford Financial Group acknowledges that a Stanford employee alleged in 2003 that the company was running a Ponzi scheme, but the organization did not follow up on the claim based of its own policy, which has since been changed. The disclosure comes in testimony from Daniel Sibears, Executive Vice President of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, FINRA, prepared for a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Monday. In 2003, Stanford advisor Leyla Wydler alleged in an arbitration case that the company was "engaged in a Ponzi scheme to...

IRS Debt Did Not Stop Him from Donating Generously to Politicians While accused billionaire fraudster R. Allen Stanford was showering pols with cash, he stiffed the IRS for over $100M.....In 2002-03, Stanford had enormous tax debts while campaign records show Stanford personally gave $100’s of $1000’s: $560K to Dem Sen Campaign Committee, $100K to Ntl Repub Cong Committee, $10K to Dem Cong Campaign Committee, $4K to Sen Schumer, $3K to Sen Dodd, $2K to Sen Shelby, $1K to Sen Reid. After the lien was filed, Dems thanked Stanford at their 2008 Denver convention for $150K to sponsor a Dem...

WASHINGTON – Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford, whose sprawling banking empire collapsed this year, has been indicted for what prosecutors say is a $7 billion scheme to defraud investors. Justice Department officials announced the charges against Stanford, who ran Stanford Financial Group, and six others at a news conference Friday. Also indicted were executives of the company and a former Antiguan bank regulator. Dick DeGuerin, Stanford's lawyer in Houston, said in a written statement that Stanford was "confident that a fair jury will find him not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing." --- Associated Press writers Marcy Gordon in Washington, Larry...

The bizarre fraud case of wealthy Texan R. Allen Stanford took a turn yesterday after federal prosecutors pointed a finger at a high-ranking Antiguan financial regulator, who they say accepted bribes from Stanford in exchange for covering up a $7 billion Ponzi scheme.That revelation came as Stanford, 59, and a cadre of cohorts were indicted in connection with the alleged fraud, which has extended from Stanford's Houston headquarters to the tropical island of Antigua, where Stanford was knighted and is referred to as "Sir Allen." In addition to Stanford, his former chief investment officer, Laura Pendergest-Holt, 35, was indicted for...

WASHINGTON—A federal grand jury in Houston returned a two-count indictment today charging Laura Pendergest-Holt, the chief investment officer of Houston-based Stanford Financial Group (SFG), with conspiring to obstruct a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proceeding investigating SFG, as well as a substantive count of obstructing the SEC proceeding, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas Tim Johnson announced. The federal court in Houston will be issuing an order summoning Pendergest-Holt to appear in the near future for arraignment. Pendergest-Holt has been free on a $300,000 bond...

Since 1999, he's been buying himself favors by working with the DEA. No wonder he still hasn't been arrested. From the very beginning of the Allen Stanford scandal, there's been speculation of his playing some role in the drug trade, and talk that he may have been some kind of US government asset. That's been confirmed by the BBC: Secret documents seen by Panorama (BBC) show both governments knew in 1990 that the Texan was a former bankrupt and his first bank was suspected of involvement with Latin American money-launderers. ... He was initially investigated by the SEC for running...

Sir Allen Stanford is a man with many connections: to tax havens, to glamourous sporting events and also to Washington DC. The list of US politicians who have received campaign contributions from Sir Allen, reads like a who’s who of the great and the good. Prominent names include Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, John McCain and George W. Bush. Leading members of the congressional committees with oversight for the banking and financial systems were also among the biggest beneficiaries of Sir Allen’s largesse.Many on the list have scrambled to distance themselves from the Texan billionaire as federal authorities have widened...

In case you were wondering, take a trip to Opensecrets.org and search on Bernard Madoff as a contributor. My search says he gave $183,250 over all election cycles, with a cool $100,000 going to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign since 2005 and most of the rest going to individual Democrats. The usual suspects such as Chuck Schumer, Charlie Rangel, Chris Dodd and Hillary Clinton show up, as well as Ron Wyden, Ed Markey, Frank Lautenberg and other Democrats. Yes, a few Republicans show up, too. I also looked up that other rip-off artist, R. Allen Stanford. He gave $855,177 by my...

FBI in search for Stanford ‘victims’ By Stacy-Marie Ishmael and Joanna Chung in New York Published: March 9 2009 23:14 | Last updated: March 9 2009 23:14 The Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Monday it was seeking to identify potential “victims” who invested in a slew of companies associated with Sir Allen Stanford as part of an ongoing investigation. The agency is seeking information from anyone who invested in either Stanford Financial Group or its affiliated companies – Stanford Capital Management, the Stanford Group Company, the Stanford International Bank, the Stanford Trust Company, and the Bank of Antigua. “If...

The Sir Allen Stanford Story: The Emperor Has No Clothes Revisited In a scheme going back over 20 years, it appears that Stanford's "Banks" were nothing more than a ponzi scam, bilking investors for billions -- atleast $8 billon and counting -- but it took a smart Venezuelan analyst named Alex Dalmady to cry out that the emperor had no clothes, setting off a chain of events that within two weeks would lead to the collapse and closure of affiliated banks in Caracas, Canada, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Antigua. By Russ Dallen Latin American Herald Tribune staff In the early...

Have you invested in the Stanford Financial Group or its affiliated companies in recent years? If so, you may be a victim of a multi-billion dollar investment fraud. The Stanford Financial Group, which provides wealth management services to customers in some 140 countries, is under FBI investigation. On February 26, its Chief Investment Officer was charged with obstructing a separate investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Our case is ongoing, and while we can’t provide any additional information on our investigation at this time, we do need to hear from you to identify victims and to determine...

US case tells tale of Stanford exec's legal woes By Chris Baltimore Fri Feb 27, 4:03 pm ET HOUSTON (Reuters) – Laura Pendergest-Holt, who spent Thursday night in a Houston detention center, can trace her legal ills to a private aircraft hangar in Miami. That's where the Stanford Financial Group's 35-year-old chief investment officer huddled with other executives and lawyers on January 22 to hammer out a strategy for dealing with federal investigators. They were probing what they would later call a massive scheme to defraud holders of $8 billion worth of certificates of deposit in an Antigua-based bank. In...

FBI agents have arrested the chief investment officer of troubled Stanford Financial Group, accusing Laura Pendergest-Holt of obstructing a Securities and Exchange Commission fraud investigation.

...the FBI detained Chief Investment Officer Laura Pendergest-Holt on federal obstruction charges in the Stanford Financial Group fraud. The USDOJ said she concealed her role in, and familiarity with, investments of the Antigua-based bank from SEC investigators..... civil charges have been filed against chairman, R. Allen Stanford, and CFO Jim Davis, accusing them of fraudulently marketing $8B in high-interest CD's issued by the Antigua bank.

Great! Here's a guy, like his boss, with a history of poor judgement. (Rev. Wright, Bill Ayers, Tony Rezko, Sheila Dixon, etc. And we're supposed to trust him to oversee the $800 Billion CRAPulus? Fox News reports: A fund of hedge funds run by two members of Vice President Joe Biden's family was marketed exclusively by companies controlled by Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, who is facing Securities and Exchange Commission accusations of engaging in an $8 billion fraud. The $50 million fund was jointly branded between the Bidens' Paradigm Global Advisors LLC and a Stanford Financial Group entity and...

The State of the Catholic Church in America, Diocese by Diocese Feb/March, 2007 | Rev. Rodger Hunter-Hull and Steven Wagner

Billionaire R. Allen Stanford, accused of masterminding a “massive fraud” through his Stanford Group Co., marketed a fund run by members of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s family, according to a Web site. The Paradigm/SCM Core Alternative Fund, a combination of a fund run by the Biden family’s Paradigm Global Advisors LLC and a Stanford Capital Management entity, was marketed by the Stanford Trust Co., another of Stanford’s units, according to the company’s Web site. The Wall Street Journal earlier reported the links between Stanford’s company and the fund overseen by the Bidens. Paradigm Global Advisors is run by Biden’s...

(Reuters) – A fund of hedge funds run by two members of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's family was marketed exclusively by firms controlled by Texas financier Allen Stanford, charged by regulators with an $8 billion fraud, the Wall Street Journal said. The $50 million fund was jointly branded between the Bidens' Paradigm Global Advisors LLC and a Stanford Financial Group entity, and was known as the Paradigm Stanford Capital Management Core Alternative Fund, the paper said. Stanford-related companies marketed the fund to investors and also invested about $2.7 million of their own money in the fund, the paper said,...

A fund of hedge funds run by two members of Vice President Joe Biden's family was marketed exclusively by companies controlled by Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, who is facing Securities and Exchange Commission accusations of engaging in an $8 billion fraud. The $50 million fund was jointly branded between the Bidens' Paradigm Global Advisors LLC and a Stanford Financial Group entity and was known as the Paradigm Stanford Capital Management Core Alternative Fund. Stanford-related companies marketed the fund to investors and also invested about $2.7 million of their own money in the fund, according to a lawyer for Paradigm....

U.S. Reps. Paul E. Kanjorski and Chris Carney plan to wait before deciding whether to return thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from a firm that lobbies for defense contractors and is under investigation by the FBI. Both congressmen said they won’t return the contributions now because no wrongdoing has been found in the case of the PMA Group. The FBI is investigating the group for funneling bogus campaign contributions to Rep. John Murtha and other lawmakers, according to The New York Times. Mr. Kanjorski also said he won’t return a $2,500 contribution from an official of the Stanford Financial...

The FBI is probing possible money laundering linked to Mexico's infamous narco-trafficking Gulf Cartel in its investigation of Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford.... An FBI source close to the investigation would not give exact details but confirmed the agency was looking at links to international drug gangs as part of the huge investigation into Stanford's banking activities. Reports in the US have said Mexican authorities have detained one of Stanford's private planes as part of an investigation into possible links to the Gulf Cartel. It has been alleged cheques found inside the plane were linked to the cartel, which is...

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ST. JOHN’S, Antigua — When Robert Allen Stanford arrived here in the early 1990s, few locals had ever heard of the Texas financier. Today, he dominates so many aspects of life on this sun-drenched Caribbean island that some have taken to calling it “Stanford Land.”

Stanford panic spreads across Latin America By Naomi Mapstone in Lima and Adam Thomson in Mexico City Published: February 19 2009 01:54 | Last updated: February 19 2009 01:54 Peru, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia and Mexico were the latest Latin American countries to experience the fall-out from the Stanford case on Wednesday. Well-heeled investors queued at the offices of Stanford Financial Group’s Ecuadorean affiliate in the capital of Quito, demanding to know the status of their deposits. Stock exchanges in Quito and Guayaquil, where a second Stanford unit is based, were expected to suspend the group’s local brokerage house by late...

For a town of just 10,000 people, it is remarkable that Mexia - motto "a great place, no matter how you pronounce it" - should throw up two larger-than-life characters: Anna Nicole Smith and Sir Allen Stanford. At first glance, Ms Smith and Sir Allen have little in common beyond their birthplace. The surgically enhanced former Playmate of the Year was the model, actress and sex symbol who died from a drug overdose in 2007, nine months before her 40th birthday. Sir Allen, who has also been under the plastic surgeon's knife, is the flamboyant businessman turned cricket entrepreneur who...

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua (AP) — Caribbean regulators Friday took control of an Antiguan bank owned by Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford to prevent its collapse as depositors rushed to pull their money after American financier was accused of fraud. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the monetary authority for eight island economies in the region, said the Bank of Antigua's board of directors requested the intervention because of the "untenable situation" at its three branches in the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. "There has been an unusual and substantial withdrawals of funds by depositors from the bank precipitated by recently...

U.S. Sen. Christopher J. Dodd said Thursday he will return contributions received from financier R. Allen Stanford who is accused by federal regulators of defrauding investors of $8 billion. "Whatever it is, all of it will be donated to charity," Dodd said ... "Unfortunately, I'm not clairvoyant," said Dodd, a Democrat facing re-election next year. "In some cases, I've received money and support from people who turn out to be people you wouldn't want to be associated with." Dodd was unsure whether he had ever met Stanford or exactly how much money he had received from the financier, either directly...

Accused of cheating investors out of $8 billion, Texas financier R. Allen Stanford could've been anywhere when he dropped out of sight earlier this week. He has extensive business ties in Latin America and the West Indies, and dual citizenship in the United States and the Virgin Islands. He was even knighted in Antigua and Barbuda, where he resides and is better known as Sir Allen. So where does a guy with those kinds of connections go to get away from it all? Apparently, Stafford County. That's where FBI agents from Richmond caught up with him yesterday after officials with...

For Mark Tidwell and Charles Rawl, former employees who filed a whistleblower lawsuit against Texas billionaire Allen Stanford's financial empire, the alarm bells first rang in May 2005, when some clients got a letter from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Tidwell and Rawl's concerns that Stanford was falsifying the returns of about $8 billion in certificates of deposit were eventually heeded by the SEC, which on Tuesday accused Stanford in a civil complaint of "massive ongoing fraud." But at the time, the SEC inquiry came out of the blue, Tidwell and Rawl told Reuters in an interview at a...

WASHINGTON - Texas financier R. Allen Stanford was tracked down Thursday in Virginia, where FBI (web) agents served him with legal papers in a multibillion-dollar fraud case. FBI agents, acting at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission, served Stanford court orders and other documents, the FBI and the SEC said. -snip-

President Barack Obama's campaign fund moved Wednesday to distance him from the burgeoning scandal involving Texas businessman R. Allen Stanford, donating the value of Stanford's $4,600 campaign contribution to a Chicago charity.

Authorities were trying to track down Texas billionaire financier Allen Stanford on Thursday, as fraud charges against the cricket impresario prompted panicked investors to withdraw cash from his banks..... Two days after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused Stanford, 58, of perpetrating "a fraud of shocking magnitude," officials were still in the dark about his whereabouts - as were close members of his family....

SEC Moving to Seize Billionaire's Planes, Yachts, Bank Accounts, Homes... The billionaire banker accused of scamming $8 billion, R. Allen Stanford, was located by FBI officials today and served with civil papers by the SEC, putting an end to a nationwide search. Stanford later turned in his passport to federal prosecutors, saying "he would not flee," according to one of Stanford's lobbyists, Ben Barnes.

The billionaire banker accused of scamming $8 billion, R. Allen Stanford, was located by FBI officials today and served with civil papers by the SEC, putting an end to a nationwide search. Stanford later turned in his passport to federal prosecutors, saying "he would not flee," according to one of Stanford's lobbyists, Ben Barnes.

More than 100 members of Congress—past and present—as well as congressional campaign committees and the national parties benefited from political donations from the political action committee or employees of Stanford Financial Group since 2000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The Securities and Exchange Commission charged the firm’s head, R. Allen Stanford, on Tuesday with orchestrating a $8 billion fraud. Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal reported on Stanford’s status as an “international cricket sponsor, Washington political donor and private banker to Latin America’s wealthy.” President Barack Obama was the third-ranking recipient among lawmakers, with $31,750 collected from company employees during...

Cricket promoter Allen Stanford linked to drugs investigation The FBI is investigating Sir Allen Stanford over possible links to a Mexican drugs cartel, according to reports. By Paul Kelso, Chief Sports Reporter, Houston Last Updated: 3:03PM GMT 19 Feb 2009 In a report screened on Wednesday night on ABC News in the US, it was claimed that Sir Allen was suspected of laundering money for the notorious Gulf cartel, and that one of his private jets was detained as part of the investigation last year. The reports come 36 hours after the Security and Exchanges Commission charged the Texan financier...

US authorities 'had been investigating Allen Stanford for 15 years' David Byers, Suzy Jagger in New York, and James Bone in Antigua American authorities have been suspicious of Allen Stanford's financial dealings for 15 years but only accelerated their investigation after the Bernard Madoff fraud was exposed, it was claimed today. As investigators continued to hunt Mr Stanford and the $50 billion (£35 billion) of assets connected to him, a financial expert said that the Texan had been on "everybody’s radar" for more than a decade. The claim, made by the journalist and author Jeffrey Robinson, came as a link...

The $8 billion scam that Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford is accused of hatching could ensnare high-profile athletes who were represented by Teddy Forstmann's management firm IMG. The Post has learned that IMG quietly agreed to steer clients looking for investment advice to Stanford Financial Group, potentially exposing them to millions of dollars in losses resulting from the financial firm's alleged fraud. According to three sources with knowledge of the situation, IMG and Stanford have a quid-pro-quo agreement under which Stanford Financial pays IMG a low- to mid-seven-figure consulting fee in exchange for IMG advising its clients - which include...

The SEC's fraud charges may be the least of accused financial scammer R. Allen Stanford's worries. Federal authorities tell ABC News that FBI and others have been investigating whether Stanford was involved in laundering drug money for Mexico's notorious Gulf Cartel. Authorities tell ABC News that as part of the investigation, which has been ongoing since last year, Mexican authorities detained one of Stanford's private planes. According to officials, checks found inside the plane were believed to be connected to the Gulf cartel, reputed to be Mexico's most violent gang. Authorities say Stanford could potentially face criminal charges of money...

Texas financier R. Allen Stanford is accused of cheating 50,000 customers out of $8 billion dollars but despite raids Tuesday of his financial empire in Houston, Memphis, and Tupelo, Miss., federal authorities say they do not know the current whereabouts of the CEO. The Securities Exchange Commission alleges Stanford ran a fraud promising investors impossible returns, much like Bernard Madoff's $50 billion alleged Ponzi scheme. Investigators Tuesday shut down and froze the assets of three of the companies Stanford controls and they say the case could grow to be as big as the Madoff scandal. Like Madoff's clients, Stanford's investors...

President Obama's campaign has given to charity a $4,600 campaign donation from fugitive money man R. Allen Stanford, who is accused of $8 billion in fraud. A former campaign aide said the president's campaign donated the money to the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless. Obama’s decision comes after his opponent in the presidential race, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), announced he would donate the money he received from Stanford to charity. Federal investigators raided Standford's empire on Tuesday, and the Securities Exchange Commission alleges he ran a fraud similar to the Ponzi scheme run by Bernie Madoff.

The head of Stanford Financial Group charged with orchestrating an $8 billion fraud tried Tuesday to get a one-way flight out of the country, a source told CNBC. R. Allen Stanford tried to arrange the direct flight to Antigua, where his offshore banking operations are based. He contacted a private jet owner at 3 pm and attempted to pay for the flight with a credit card, but was refused because the company would only accept a wire transfer, a source in the private jet industry said. Stanford had asked to leave by 6 pm.

Texas businessman R. Allen Stanford, whose multibillion-dollar investment empire was ordered seized Monday by a federal judge, has long enjoyed big influence in Washington thanks to a steady supply of campaign contributions, Caribbean trips for lawmakers and fees to lobbying firms. Mr. Stanford and his affiliated companies have spent more than $5 million on lobbying fees since 2000, federal records show. The businessman and his top executives have also contributed at least $2 million to candidates, including key lawmakers, and additional thousands of dollars on jets and resorts. The businessman's primary goal for the last three to four years...

FEDS SAY HOUSTON BANKER OPERATED $8B SCAM Texan Sir R. Allen Stanford ran a "massive, ongoing fraud," scamming $8 billion by luring investors with unrealistically high returns on offshore bank CDs and mutual funds......and lied about his Madoff investments....... The SEC appointed a receiver to take control of Stanford Financial Group.....58-year-old Stanford's holds citizenship in the US and Antigua, the first American to be knighted by the West Indies island.... his Antigua bank----Stanford International Bank Ltd....touted "a unique investment strategy" purporting to produce double-digit returns ..........