Friday June 19, 07:10 AM
Stanford turns himself in on fraud charge: report
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Texan billionaire financier Allen Stanford, accused of propagating a multi-billion-dollar scam, turned himself in after being formally charged late Thursday, a Wall Street Journal report said.
The Justice Department is Friday set to announce the charges of a Houston grand jury, the financial daily said.
Federal agents raided Stanford Financial Group's Houston headquarters in February and froze company assets and the personal accounts of Stanford, his chief investment officer Laura Pendergest-Holt and chief financial officer James Davis.
Investors then swarmed Stanford's closed offices and affiliated banks across the United States, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean to regain lost investments.
In its complaint, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused the Stanford Financial Group of operating "a massive Ponzi scheme" by paying investors returns on certificates of deposit using money from other investors rather than from gains on investments.
Stanford, who was behind the high-profile Stanford Super Series Twenty20 cricket competition received a knighthood in 2006 from the governor-general of Antigua, where his company was the second largest employer.
|
|
|
Send Article by Email
Send Article by IM
Blog This with Y! 360
Printable View
