IG report: SEC knew of Stanford scheme since 1997

Ap ^ | Apr 16, 2010 | Marcy Gordon

[george76]

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.

[classified]

Oh Boy!

[Carley]

Kind of like Gregg Craig now defending Goldman Sachs.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

but waited 12 years to bring fraud charges

They must have had a dial-up connection and it took that long for all the porn to download.

[george76]

Plus the 33 Senior SEC employees getting paid up to $223,000. per year each...downloading pornography up to eight hours a day.

[mapmaker77]

Isn’t that illegal?

[nkycincinnatikid]

Am I living in a free country because the IG will expose such gross dereliction of sworn duty by government agents, realizing that they will not even lose their pensions.
Are the Chinese living in a totalitarian state because its citizens will never hear of the fact that corrupted bureacrats like these are frogged marched into prision when discovered?
Tis A Puzzlement!

[Drango]

Their needs to be a law on the books that a gross dereliction of duty, maleficence or just stupidity...will result in jail time for the head of the SEC. (and other government agencies)

[narses]

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[phockthis]

sfl

[FTJM]

The “word” is that he was an informant for the DEA on drug dealers who laundered money with him.

[Carling]

So ... who is blowing the whistle on the SEC? It can’t be the Obama administration.

Clintons?

[george76]

Goldman ?

[ground_fog]

Epic Fail-and it starts with Chris cox. I eould put Cox in jail if I could.

[RobbyS]

Oh yes, the regulators can always be counted on. Not to be too cynical, though. I once was able to scare some guys into returning some of my money just by sending them a copy of a letter to the SEC. I actually got a reply from some agent at the SEC saying that he had contacted these guys. Got a check in the mail within weeks. I think the writer actually enjoyed leaning on the T...ds.

[SamuraiScot]

The Securities and Exchange Commission knew since 1997 that R. Allen Stanford likely was operating a Ponzi scheme

That would be the Clinton Administration. Stanford a contributor, by chance?

[Liz]

Queens Dem linked to Chavez and offshore scammer Stanford
By MAGGIE HABERMAN, nypost.com

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens) allegedly agreed to intercede directly with Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez on behalf of now-indicted fat cat Allan Stanford who helped bankroll several lavish Caribbean trips for the congressman, it was revealed yesterday. The allegations could raise major ethical headaches for Meeks, a member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, whose stock has been on the rise in local politics and who has been allied with the White House on key issues.

Allen Stanford sought Meeks' help March 2006 -- hoping the congressman would let Chavez know he wanted a criminal probe into Gonzalo Tirado, an executive at one of the Texas moneyman's biggest banks, the Miami Herald reported yesterday. Rep. Gregory Meeks allegedly agreed to carry a message to Hugo Chavez from accused swindler Allen Stanfor. Stanford -- the flamboyant moneyman who officials say ran a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme -- had fired Tirado, allegedly for stealing.

Meeks told Stanford he would do so, according to the paper, adding that two former federal agents who were working for the alleged con man had heard the call on speakerphone. A month later, Meeks went to Venezuela for a string of meetings, including some with Chavez, on a trip that was reportedly hailed as a thank-you for the henchman's deal with former Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II (D-Mass.) to bring low-cost heating oil to Northeast states. A year later, Tirado -- who had accused Stanford of running business scams -- was charged with tax evasion and stealing, the Herald reported.

Stanford was a major bankroller of the Inter-American Economic Council (IAEC), a nonprofit that has fought against banking restrictions. The group helped create the Caribbean Caucus of congress members, including Meeks. Meek took trips to Jamaica, Antigua and other places on the IAEC's dime, although it was unclear if the 2006 one was among them. Stanford and his employees have kicked in $12,000 to his campaign coffers.

Stanford's lawyer, Kent Schaffer, acknowledged that his client had talked with Meeks about Tirado -- but denied anything improper happened. "I know from my conversation with Allen Stanford that there's no reason to believe that anything illegal or unethical was asked of the congressman," he said. "They were having problems with an employee they believed was stealing from the bank . . . and he simply was reporting what had happened. I'm not aware of him making any request for anything in particular." Meeks and his spokeswoman didn't respond to requests for comments

SOURCE http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/meeks_not_so_blessed_OaDzNiVlBEUEKiwhXhG8gK

BACKSTORY April 15, 2010 --- New York Cong Gregory Meeks has been subpoenaed as part of a growing federal corruption probe that includes some of the most powerful Democratic politicians in Queens. Meeks’s office received a document subpoena from a federal grand jury in Manhattan several weeks ago, the New York Democrat announced on the House floor Tuesday. Under House rules, a lawmaker must announce on the floor when he or she has been subpoenaed in a civil or criminal action.

Meeks’s aides declined to discuss what the grand jury was seeking, but the subpoena covered a period going back to 2000 and seeks a broad range of documents from the seven-term lawmaker.

The New York Daily News reported in early April that the grand jury was looking into the activities of several Queens politicians, including Meeks, former Rep. Floyd Flake (D-N.Y.), New York Senate President Malcolm Smith and Queens Borough President Helen Marshall. According to the Daily News, “the feds are investigating whether the Queens pols used a web of nonprofit groups to benefit themselves, their families and their friends.

Cong. Gregory Meeks, D-NY., makes a statement before departing for Switzerland.

"This is racism---pure and simple. I am totally
innocent. As a compassionate and tolerant Democrat,
I was just helping out a distinguished foreign dignitary."

"See, I got this email from Nigerian Gen Kachinga Cheatchusuckah.
The General had a problem."

" Now, as soon as Gen Cheatchusuckah transfers Idi Amin's
secret Ugandan gold reserves from a Swiss bank vault to a
refrigerated truck I leased............."

[mo]

Wonder how many SEC bureaucrats had their own “privately managed” 401K’s goin”....just sayin”

[Liz]

......33 Senior SEC employees getting paid up to $223,000. per year each...downloading pornography up to eight hours a day.....

Spotlights the incompetence of these high paid know-nothings. They had no clue these activities could be traced----that they were leaving a trail of evidence?

[Zeppo]

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.

12 years? Pfffft - that's nothing.

The Federal Government has been running the Social Security Ponzi scheme with impunity for 75 years running, with FDR still reaching out from the grave to strangle the ambitions and future well-being of generations yet unborn, all the while those Democrat criminals still among the living conspire daily to compound the damage...