Stanford's fall from grace complete; convicted of fraud
Allen Stanford, who once had a fortune of $2.2 billion, was convicted Tuesday of 13 counts of fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
Flamboyant cricket mogul Allen Stanford had long been dogged by rumours of misdeeds at his Caribbean investment bank as he built a personal fiefdom on the island of Antigua.
U.S. prosecutors finally closed in on the mustachioed Texan in 2009 and on Tuesday - after years of legal delays - a jury convicted Stanford of 13 of 14 counts of fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
The verdict will bring some satisfaction - but likely little financial relief - to 30,000 investors from more than 100 countries who were bilked by bogus investments with Stan-ford International Bank. Investigators could find only eight per cent of the $8 billion the bank said it had in assets and cash reserves.
Stanford, 61, has spent the past three years in jail after being deemed a flight risk. He may never taste freedom again. Even if a judge decides Stan-ford should receive concurrent sentences on the 13 counts, he will likely still face 20 years in a federal prison.
It marks a remarkable fall from grace for a man who once ranked among the world's richest and says he is still suffering memory loss and emotional damage from a brutal jailhouse beating that forced delays in his trial.
In an interview with ABC News before his 2009 arrest, the network said Stanford cried at times as he explained how the collapse of his company had robbed him of wealth and status. "I'm the maverick rich Texan where they can put the moose head on the wall. And that's the only reason they went after me," Stanford said. "I'm fighting for my survival and for my integrity."
With a fortune of $2.2 billion, Stan-ford was ranked by Forbes magazine as the 605th-richest person in the world in 2006.
After most of those funds were frozen by the courts, Stanford was forced to accept appointed counsel.
Stanford built a global financial empire by expanding the company founded by his grandfather in 1932.
He attracted investors by offering artificially high returns on "safe" certificates of deposits that were supposed to be backed by the cautious investment of funds by world-class money managers.
The jury found that he siphoned off $2 billion for his own use and paid dividends with funds culled from new investors.
As a dual citizen of the United States and the Caribbean country of Antigua and Barbuda, Stanford was known for conspicuous largesse, especially on the two paradise islands.
In Antigua, Stanford was the island's largest employer and the recipient of a 2006 knighthood.
"Sir Allen" became known for sporting the clipped mustache and Savile Row style of English aristocracy on his towering Texan frame.
The story goes that when Stanford stepped off a plane in Antigua and saw airport workers playing cricket in a nearby pasture during a break, he vowed to build them a cricket ground - and made good on that word with one just across from the airport that bears his name. He came to global cricket prominence when he announced he was putting $28 mil-lion into funding a Caribbean-wide Twenty20 tournament in 2005.
Many in the cricket world were appalled at his gall in challenging the traditional cricket establishment, especially after England accepted the challenge in 2008 and Stanford landed his helicopter at London's Lord's Cricket Ground and waved around a box he said held the $20-million prize in cash.
The winner-take-all match captured a global television audience of 300 million, but from England's point of view it soon became an embarrassment.
Stanford was also slammed for bouncing the wife of one of the English players on his knee during the Antigua matches. By the end of 2008 he was reviewing his cricket commitments.
His personal empire soon began to crumble in a far more serious way when it attracted scrutiny from U.S. financial regulators. He was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with fraud in February 2009 and arrested a few months later at his girlfriend's home in Virginia.
Source:http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Cricket+mogul+bowled+jury/6263442/story.html
U.S. prosecutors finally closed in on the mustachioed Texan in 2009 and on Tuesday - after years of legal delays - a jury convicted Stanford of 13 of 14 counts of fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
The verdict will bring some satisfaction - but likely little financial relief - to 30,000 investors from more than 100 countries who were bilked by bogus investments with Stan-ford International Bank. Investigators could find only eight per cent of the $8 billion the bank said it had in assets and cash reserves.
Stanford, 61, has spent the past three years in jail after being deemed a flight risk. He may never taste freedom again. Even if a judge decides Stan-ford should receive concurrent sentences on the 13 counts, he will likely still face 20 years in a federal prison.
It marks a remarkable fall from grace for a man who once ranked among the world's richest and says he is still suffering memory loss and emotional damage from a brutal jailhouse beating that forced delays in his trial.
In an interview with ABC News before his 2009 arrest, the network said Stanford cried at times as he explained how the collapse of his company had robbed him of wealth and status. "I'm the maverick rich Texan where they can put the moose head on the wall. And that's the only reason they went after me," Stanford said. "I'm fighting for my survival and for my integrity."
With a fortune of $2.2 billion, Stan-ford was ranked by Forbes magazine as the 605th-richest person in the world in 2006.
After most of those funds were frozen by the courts, Stanford was forced to accept appointed counsel.
Stanford built a global financial empire by expanding the company founded by his grandfather in 1932.
He attracted investors by offering artificially high returns on "safe" certificates of deposits that were supposed to be backed by the cautious investment of funds by world-class money managers.
The jury found that he siphoned off $2 billion for his own use and paid dividends with funds culled from new investors.
As a dual citizen of the United States and the Caribbean country of Antigua and Barbuda, Stanford was known for conspicuous largesse, especially on the two paradise islands.
In Antigua, Stanford was the island's largest employer and the recipient of a 2006 knighthood.
"Sir Allen" became known for sporting the clipped mustache and Savile Row style of English aristocracy on his towering Texan frame.
The story goes that when Stanford stepped off a plane in Antigua and saw airport workers playing cricket in a nearby pasture during a break, he vowed to build them a cricket ground - and made good on that word with one just across from the airport that bears his name. He came to global cricket prominence when he announced he was putting $28 mil-lion into funding a Caribbean-wide Twenty20 tournament in 2005.
Many in the cricket world were appalled at his gall in challenging the traditional cricket establishment, especially after England accepted the challenge in 2008 and Stanford landed his helicopter at London's Lord's Cricket Ground and waved around a box he said held the $20-million prize in cash.
The winner-take-all match captured a global television audience of 300 million, but from England's point of view it soon became an embarrassment.
Stanford was also slammed for bouncing the wife of one of the English players on his knee during the Antigua matches. By the end of 2008 he was reviewing his cricket commitments.
His personal empire soon began to crumble in a far more serious way when it attracted scrutiny from U.S. financial regulators. He was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with fraud in February 2009 and arrested a few months later at his girlfriend's home in Virginia.
Source:http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Cricket+mogul+bowled+jury/6263442/story.html
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