Ponzi scheme

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FBI Arrests High-Ranking Stanford Exec

Investment officer faces SEC obstruction charges

(Newser) - FBI agents have arrested the chief investment officer of Stanford Financial Group, accusing Laura Pendergest-Holt of obstructing an SEC fraud investigation. The SEC has been investigating allegations of an $8 billion investment fraud involving Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford's financial group. Pendergest-Holt, arrested in Houston, will appear in court tomorrow....

Wiesel: Put 'Psychopath' Madoff in Prison

(Newser) - Author and Nazi hunter Elie Wiesel, who lost $15.2 million in foundation money and a good chunk of his own fortune to Bernie Madoff, railed today against the “psychopath” financier, the New York Post reports. “He should be put in a solitary cell with a screen, and...

Feds: Swindlers Blew $500M on Horses, Houses, Teddies

Another day, another fraud casee

(Newser) - A pair of money managers who once co-owned the New York Islanders hockey team have been charged by federal prosecutors with treating $550 million in client investments like their own "personal piggy bank," reports Reuters. Paul Greenwood, 61, and Stephen Walsh, 64, managing general partners of WG Trading...

Stanford Bank in Antigua Missing $8B

'It appears to be a Ponzi scheme,' investigator says

(Newser) - Investigators rummaging around Allen Stanford's Antiguan bank have confirmed media reports that $8 billion is missing, the Times of London reports. “The $8 billion you hear about in the media isn’t there,” one official told customers outside the Stanford International Bank. "It appears to be a...

Madoff Bought No Stocks—for 13 Years

(Newser) - The trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff’s companies said today the disgraced financier appears not to have purchased any securities for his clients for “perhaps as much as 13 years,” Bloomberg reports. It was “cash in and cash out,” Irving Picard said. "It was all just...

Madoff Bust Stokes Anti-Semitism in Palm Beach

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff’s alleged mega-fraud and the large number of Jewish investors he apparently snookered is stoking anti-Semitic feeling in tony Palm Beach, ABC News reports. “It is a terrible thing to say, but some of the WASPs are delighted, they take great pleasure in this,” said an...

Stanford's Other Mess: Cricket
 Stanford's Other Mess: Cricket  
Feb 19, 2009 10:45 AM CST

Stanford's Other Mess: Cricket

(Newser) - Before he was charged with massive fraud, Sir Allen Stanford was often charged with an equally grievous offense: subverting the game of cricket. The Texan was among the sport’s deepest-pocketed fans, but the fast-paced Twenty20 tournaments he favored annoy purists. When Stanford put up $20 million in prize money...

Venezuela Seizes Stanford Bank, Calls It Healthy

Country provided up to 30% of group's funds

(Newser) - Venezuela has taken control of a bank run by alleged fraudster R. Allen Stanford and his Stanford International Group, the New York Times reports. A banking regulator said the retail bank is essentially healthy, but Venezuelans are still fretting. “When Venezuelan forces say nothing is wrong,” explained one...

Stanford May Have Ties to Mexican Drug Cartel

FBI money laundering probe predated SEC swoop on financier

(Newser) - Fugitive financier R. Allen Stanford was under investigation over possible ties to a Mexican drug cartel long before the SEC swooped in on his firm, federal authorities tell ABC News. The FBI and other agencies began probing Stanford on suspicion of money laundering a year ago, after Mexican authorities detained...

SEC Missed Stanford Warning Signs
SEC Missed Stanford Warning Signs
Feb 19, 2009 5:24 AM CST

SEC Missed Stanford Warning Signs

Minor fines levied for violations that should have been red flags

(Newser) - Years of SEC probes into the Stanford Group's finances resulted in wrist-slaps for violations that experts believe should have been huge red flags for investigators, the New York Times reports. The firm, suspected of engaging in an $8 billion fraud, paid out just $60,000 in the past 2 years...

Antigua, Stanford's Banking Base, Braces

Account holders line up to withdraw money, despite assurances from PM

(Newser) - The SEC's allegations of fraud against R. Allen Stanford prompted concern on the tiny Caribbean island of Antigua, the base of the financier's bank. Despite reassurances from the prime minister, customers lined up at both branches of the Bank of Antigua to make withdrawals yesterday. Some seemed to emerge with...

Stanford Spent Millions to Lobby Congress

$8B scammer's island junkets helped push anti-tax agenda

(Newser) - Billionaire R. Allen Stanford has spent millions of dollars in attempting to enlist high-powered Washington officials in his anti-tax efforts, reports the Wall Street Journal. Stanford’s investment companies spent over $5 million on lobbying, $2 million on campaign contributions, and thousands more on flying members of Congress to the...

Lawyer Bolted From Stanford, Sparking $8B SEC Action

Attorney 'disaffirmed' earlier statements

(Newser) - A Washington attorney who represented R. Allen Stanford’s Antigua-based bank quit his post and recanted testimony to investigators last week, sparking the SEC’s public accusations of “massive, ongoing fraud,” Bloomberg reports. Stanford is suspected of misrepresenting the safety of $8 billion invested with his various financial...

Who Is Sir Allen Stanford (Other Than $8B Scammer)?

(Newser) - Alleged fraudster R. Allen Stanford may not have been a household name before the SEC accused him of skullduggery yesterday, but not because he’s been keeping a low profile. Calling himself “Sir” Allen Stanford ever since he was knighted in Antigua in 2006, the colorful financier is the...

Fugitive Financier Has $8B Headstart
Fugitive Financier Has $8B Headstart
OPINION
Feb 18, 2009 1:48 AM CST

Fugitive Financier Has $8B Headstart

SEC has slim chance of finding Stanford, missing stash

(Newser) - Financier Robert Allen Stanford is now a fugitive and SEC officials don't look any likelier to get their man than his investors do to get their money back, Felix Salmon writes in Portfolio. Regulators have been sniffing around his operations for long enough to ensure he's got a contingency plan...

'Smash-Me Bernie' a Hit at Toy Fair

(Newser) - He may have crushed your savings—but for $99.95 more you can stomp on him, reports the New York Times. The hot ticket at this year's American International Toy Fair is "Smash-Me Bernie," a mini-Madoff dressed in a red devil suit that you can bludgeon with an...

SEC Accuses Texas Firm of 'Massive Fraud'

$8B missing, bank barring withdrawals from offshore accounts

(Newser) - The SEC today accused Robert Allen Stanford, head honcho of Stanford Financial group, of running a “massive, ongoing fraud,” and roughly 40 policemen and other law enforcement officials raided the group’s Houston headquarters. The group sold $8 billion in certificates of deposit with abnormally high rates of...

Madoff Scam Zaps Key Science Funds
Madoff Scam Zaps Key Science Funds
Feb 12, 2009 2:23 AM CST

Madoff Scam Zaps Key Science Funds

Medical research set back years as bilked charities slash aid

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff's alleged Ponzi scheme is sending shockwaves deep into the worlds of medicine and science as scammed charitable foundations yank funding for key research projects, reports the Wall Street Journal. Experts believe the number of people affected by the scam's impact on health care could run into the millions....

Madoff's Wife Withdrew $15.5M Days Before Arrest

Deadline for criminal indictment extended 30 days

(Newser) - Ruth Madoff withdrew $10 million from a Madoff-related brokerage firm the day before her husband was arrested, according to a complaint filed by Massachusetts’ secretary of state, the Wall Street Journal reports. She also withdrew $5.5 million a few weeks earlier, according to documents from Cohmad Securities, which Bernie...

Madoff OKs Settlement With SEC

(Newser) - Bernard Madoff has partly settled civil accusations against him, a sign he will focus on fighting criminal charges over an alleged Ponzi scheme, the New York Times reports. Madoff's settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission stipulates that he will not admit or deny guilt, but cannot dispute SEC charges....

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