They were just a few others who thought their money was safe with Stanford. Get your facts straight, Stanford was a very reputable, top notch financial firm. I guess Middy would have seen this coming?
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.
According to Forbes' annual list of the richest people in the U.S. Stanford Financial says it caters to roughly 50,000 wealthy investors, mostly in the U.S., the Caribbean, and Latin America
Stanford Financial Investors File Suit Over Frozen Assets
Investors with bank accounts linked to Stanford Financial Group which were frozen amid an ongoing federal probe into an alleged $8 billion investment fraud by the firm have filed a lawsuit saying the government had no right to freeze their assets.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Houston, alleges that the SEC, the U.S. Marshals Office, and the Dallas attorney appointed as receiver of Stanford Financial during the probe have produced no evidence that owners of seized accounts have done anything wrong to warrant freezing of their assets.
The government’s seizure of accounts linked to Stanford Financial holdings, which began on or about February 16, 2009, was carried out in a “reckless and negligent manner,” according to the investors’ lawsuit. The investors are seeking unspecified damages.
Authorities are investigating charges that Allen Stanford and two of his top corporate officers offered for sale fraudulent certificates of deposit in Stanford International Bank. The scam netted the company billions of dollars from thousands of investors around the world, according to investigators. Authorities are working to recover as much of the stolen money as possible.
Stanford has not been charged with a crime, but he remains a primary focus of the government’s probe of his vast financial empire.
Investors Left Out in the Cold
When word broke of the fraud charges against Stanford, investors in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin American scrambled to withdraw their funds from accounts tied to the disgraced financier. For some, it was too late, leaving them unable to access funds used to pay mortgages, college tuitions, and other expenses.
Among those who said they had accounts frozen in the Stanford investigation were New York Yankees players Johnny Damon and Xavier Nady, who despite being paid millions each season to play baseball, were left unable to pay for dinner or buy property.
But not all Stanford’s victims are well-paid professional athletes or millionaires, according to the investors’ lawsuit. Catherine Coulter, who runs a rescue organization for greyhounds in Houston, said she cannot access financial donations from supporters, since the funds are held in a Stanford bank account. Coulter said she is concerned about how she is going to meet payroll for her organization or feed the 50 dogs in her care, according to the lawsuit.
Also among those unable to get money out of Stanford-controlled accounts are thousands of Stanford Financial employees, who have not been paid for weeks. Some employees were paid last week as the court-appointed receiver in the fraud case authorized payroll payments to go out, albeit a few days late.
Help is on the Way?
Stanford investors frustrated by the seizure of their accounts and employees desperate for paychecks may get relief soon. Officials controlling the company during the federal investigation have said that many accounts linked to Stanford Financial, those with less than $100,000, will be released soon.
That may come as small consolation to investors who are struggling to pay bills without access to their frozen accounts, but at least it is some good news.
AI
