Stanford indicted in alleged $7B scheme
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford, whose sprawling banking empire included a major office in Baton Rouge, 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 today. 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.”
The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed court papers charging that Stanford and top executives orchestrated a massive fraud by advising clients to buy certificates of deposit from the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank.
The firm would give money to some investors “to perpetuate the false appearance that (Stanford’s business) was financially sound,” according to the indictment.
The others indicted were Stanford executives Laura Pendergest-Holt, Gilberto Lopez and Mark Kuhrt. A separate indictment unsealed in Florida accused a fourth Stanford worker, Bruce Perraud, of destroying records important to the investigation.
Prosecutors charged Leroy King, the former chief executive officer of Antigua’s Financial Services Regulatory Commission, with conspiracy to obstruct an SEC investigation.
Criminal charges were filed against James Davis, chief financial officer for Stanford Financial Group.
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