Stanford scam

[basilio]

$50 billion in assets under management : Do we have another contender for the Madoff award?

Had a read of The Eagle which is Stanfords creative puff piece. Looks impressive, says all the right things with just the right tone. Even includes a story on how the very wealthy should educate their heirs to handle money. (We are talking serious wealth here..) I can see how and where they scored their $50 billion.
Salient points

1) This is a privately owned company with one shareholder Alan Stamford
2) Quote from fine print in The Eagle.

The Stanford Financial group is not a legal entity. It is an international network of independent affiliated companies located throughout North America, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbeans.

There will be some very poor billionaires today.

 

[basilio]

$50 billion of assets in management? Perhaps that's just part of the smokes and mirrors of a giant con.

Obviously this story is breaking day by day but there are a number of similarities to the Madoff scam

1) The auditing company was another dusty two bit operation in the Caribbean
2) Again there has been a individual who worked out the promises being made simply couldn't be real so the operation must be a scam. His reports have been publised in South American papers
3) As usual the SEC has been investigating Stanford for 2 years without actually working out the bleeding obvious... until the private reports started to emerge.

Former brokers say they never could understand where the company got all the money to pay for the sponsorships and fancy office digs.

In fact, the most recent audit of Stanford’s brokerage arm, a copy of which is filed with the SEC and obtained by BusinessWeek, shows that the division had incurred losses for many years. At the end of 2007, the brokerage arm had an accumulated a deficit of $77 million. The same audit also shows that the SEC had been requesting documents from the firm as far back as 2006.

Other regulatory filings show that Stanford’s brokerage arm managed about $4 billion in client money. Even adding in the $8.5 billion managed by its offshore bank, that’s far less than the $50 billion Allen Stanford claims his firm manages and advises.

http://www.businessweek.com/investing/wall_street_news_blog/archives/2009/02/sec_moves_again.html

 

[basilio]

FBI think Madoff and Stanford are just the beginning of the scam trail.

And guess what Stanford was scammed by Madoof !

The FBI is convinced that the two huge frauds are just the tip of the iceberg. John Pistole, the Deputy Director of the FBI, told politicians on Capitol Hill last week that the agency was investigating 530 corporate fraud cases, including 38 directly related to the current economic crisis.

The SEC believes that Mr Stanford duped investors, who bought bonds from Stanford International Bank in Antigua and lied about the performance of their savings. The regulator also accuses Mr Stanford of lying to investors about their exposure to Mr Madoff. He lost about $400,000 to the New York financier’s Ponzi scheme.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/cricket/article5762670.ece

 

[juw177]

Stanford Gave Hypothetical Data as Actual Performance
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ahfIj9CERDj4&refer=home

Accused Financier Under Federal Drug Investigation
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6907429&page=1

 

[GumbyLearner]

Bank runs begin as impact of Scamford Financial Mafia spreads

:knightrid :nosympath:jerry

Latin Americans fret as Stanford crisis spreads

CARACAS, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Well-off Mexican pensioners joined middle-class Venezuelans in a frantic quest on Wednesday to track down their savings as the fraud scandal enveloping U.S. broker Stanford Group Co spread to Latin America.

Crowds flocked to Stanford offices in Caracas and Mexico City and telephone lines buzzed as harried Stanford staff fielded calls round-the-clock about frozen accounts. Regulatory authorities moved on the bank's assets in Ecuador and Panama and its Colombian brokerage unit halted stock trading.

http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1845098120090218

 

[basilio]

How you manage to operate a $50 billion scam in a third world country and effectively become as big as its entire economy?

For a start you have the former Central Bank Governor on your Board.

[
Sir Courtney on board with Stanford
Published on: 3/5/08.

FORMER Central Bank Governor Sir Courtney Blackman is now vice- chairman of the Stanford International Bank, operated by American financier Sir Allan Stanford.

Sir Courtney confirmed his appointment during a visit to the island last week, explaining he had worked with the Stanford Financial Group for almost 15 years.

The Stanford Group reportedly has more than US$45 billion in assets under management.

Describing the Stanford International Bank as an important unit in the Stanford Group, Sir Courtney told the DAILY NATION he was also on the board of the group's senior advisors.

The bank runs are a scare. Regardless of which banks are involved when one falls over the others arn't far behind. Everything changes then.

 

[GumbyLearner]

Sir Scamford's sphere of influence

Hunt for Allen Stanford and his billions
Feb 19

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5762670.ece

The scale of his influence was becoming clear. He donated funds to President Obama’s election campaign and sponsored the annual charity polo day at Sandhurst, hosted by the Prince of Wales. Michael Owen, the Newcastle United and England striker, is a global ambassador for the Stanford Financial Group. Tennis, golf and basketball tournaments and teams have benefited from his millions, not to mention cricket in England and the Caribbean.

Depositors turned away from Stanford banks

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090218/ap_on_bi_ge/cb_antigua_stanford_7

Stanford also has been a major political player in the U.S., where some congressmen quickly announced they would donate his campaign contributions to charity.

The Stanford Financial Group, through its political action committee and employees, has contributed $2.4 million to political candidates, parties and committees in the U.S. since 1989, with nearly two-thirds going to Democrats, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a group that tracks campaign spending.

Most of that cash flowed during the 2002 election cycle, when Congress was debating a financial services antifraud bill that would have linked the databases of state and federal banking, securities and insurance regulators. The bill ultimately died in the Senate, where the biggest recipients have been Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. ($45,900); Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. ($28,150); Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. ($27,500); and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas ($19,700). Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas also received $41,375.

Stanford and his wife Susan also donated $931,100 of their own money, with 78 percent going to Democrats, including $4,600 to President Barack Obama's presidential campaign last May 31. Records show $2,300 of that was returned on the same day.

If anyone wants to make a complaint please email this website:-
http://www.transparency.org/

It sure looks like they may need some volunteers to point them in the right direction. ROFLMAO

 

[GumbyLearner]

Here's the muckety map for Scamford's links

http://www.muckety.com/Query?name=A...=145074&SearchResult=5036385&graph=MucketyMap

 

[GumbyLearner]

Chinese rat rivals Allen Stanford

http://www.examiner.com/x-2888-World-News-Examiner~y2009m2d18-Chinese-rat-rivals-Allen-Stanford

Billionaire financier Allen Stanford - who may have stolen $50 billion from investors - apparently is not the biggest rat out there, though, unlike like his competition, he is still on loose.

irate::bs:

 

[GumbyLearner]

Scamford closely linked with Royal Bank of Canada
Customers panic!

How a high-flying Texas businessman came to have Canadian connections

http://business.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090218.wrstanford19/BNStory/Business/home

NEW YORK, TORONTO, MONTREAL ”” A week before Christmas in 2002, Texas billionaire Allen Stanford arrived in Montreal to burnish his credentials as a high-living, high-flying investment executive. He had ordered a Global Express 9100 jet from Bombardier – the 100th that had been sold – and to mark the occasion, executives presented the aircraft to him during a private ceremony at the company's completion centre.

He returned to the city two years later, only this time it was to open a swank satellite office for his Antigua-based financial outfit, Stanford International Bank. The five-person operation, headed by former Royal Bank of Canada manager Alain Lapointe, promoted the attractive returns offered by Stanford's offshore investments.


Yesterday, customers of the Montreal office were among thousands around the globe who descended on the bank's far-flung branches in a panic, demanding answers – not to mention a return of their money – amid allegations that Mr. Stanford masterminded an $8-billion (U.S.) investment fraud.

At Stanford International's representative office on the 30th floor of the Montreal Trust tower, a distraught customer admitted that, before the scandal broke, he wondered whether the terrific returns were too good to be true.


Allen Stanford is facing allegations he has committed an $8-billion (U.S.) fraud.

But he said he was swayed by explanations that the bank benefited from significant tax breaks as an offshore operation.

“Now, with what I've been hearing, I'm wondering if the investments [Stanford] made are legitimate,” said the client, who did not want to be identified. After trying to contact Mr. Lapointe on his cellphone, the customer dropped off some papers and left.

A woman in Stanford's offices confirmed Mr. Lapointe was in, but said he wasn't available to comment on the controversy.

Mr. Lapointe, who also worked at Laurentian Bank and Computershare before joining Stanford, received his MBA from HEC-Montreal, the University of Montreal's business school.

In 2004-2005, Mr. Lapointe, a director of the HEC alumni association, helped its class of '85 graduates raise $50,000 for the school, and last September, he helped organize a golf fundraiser. There is speculation in local circles that some of HEC's close-knit alumni populated the Stanford client list, but school spokeswoman Kathleen Grant declined to comment, other than to say “he is someone who is very devoted to the school.â

 

[GumbyLearner]

Scamford in 'no way' related to Stanford University.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/18/BUBH15VQR9.DTL

Not guilty by association

Stanford University wants us to know it is not related in any way to Sir Robert Allen Stanford, the Texas billionaire accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of bilking tens of thousands of investors out of an estimated $8 billion. Nor is it connected in any way with the Stanford Financial Group, one of the entities through which Sir Robert allegedly ran the fraud. In fact, the university filed a lawsuit last year against the Stanford Financial Group for "trademark infringement and related claims ... to prevent the type of confusion and reputational injury to Stanford University that is caused by (the) SEC charges." Presumably that includes the academic-looking logo on the financial group's Web site, and headlines that read "Stanford Charged With Fraud."

 

[basilio]

As the Stanford scam unwinds it looks exactly like a long episode of Hustle. The characters, the phony stories, the slick presentations, the long con game.

Excellent story from The Guardian is pulling together the pieces of this sting. Certainly worth a read to remind ourselves that "if it looks too good to be true it probably isn't" the next time we find ourselves impressed with a "tall, wealthy, texan "

The famous faces that fooled Stanford clients

Sir Allen Stanford's empire came crashing down last week in an $8bn fraud inquiry that is now set to extend to Britain. Jamie Doward and Rajeev Syal reveal how the Texan tycoon manipulated his links with royals, sports stars and politicians to give his credentials a veneer of credibility - and why it took so long for the alarm to sound


....Stanford Financial Group (SFG) used at least four royals in its glossy publicity brochures, magazines and websites to emphasise the tycoon's respectability -....

...Eagle magazine also carries news and pictures of Stanford's knighthood in 2006, in his adopted home of Antigua, at a ceremony attended by Prince Edward. Stanford was forced to alter his website after complaints that it suggested the Earl of Wessex had personally knighted Stanford rather than its governor general, Sir James Carlisle....

...Yesterday it emerged that the helicopter emblazoned with his name and crest in which he touched down at Lord's last year - in order to announce his deal with the England and Wales Cricket Board - was hired and the logos stuck on just for the day...

....Ultimately clients were reassured by the Stanford Financial Group's provenance. "From modest beginnings seven and a half decades ago in a small Texas town in the middle of the Great Depression, the Stanford Financial Group of companies has continued to grow and prosper," they were told.

But, like much of Stanford's claims, it was untrue. Stanford Financial started life in 1987 as the Guardian International Bank in the British territory of Montserrat. Back then it had just $16m in funds, mainly put up by Stanford and his father, James. In 1991, after the Montserrat authorities revoked his banking licence (another warning sign missed), the bank relocated to Antigua, where it rebranded itself and, until last week, was reputedly sitting on some $8bn worth of assets.

Great pitch, great con..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/22/stanford-financial-group-banking