Investors unable to access US$1.7 billion connected to companies owned by Texas billionaire Allen Stanford asked a federal appeals court on Monday for access to their money.
The holders of about 4,000 accounts had their constitutional rights violated when a district judge in Dallas froze their Stanford-related assets, documents filed with the Fifth US Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans claim. The pleading also argues that the judge and a court-appointed receiver don’t have jurisdiction over an Antigua-based bank connected to the alleged fraud.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit in February accusing Stanford and his top financial officer of running a “massive” pyramid scheme that defrauded investors of about US$8 billion. Stanford has denied the allegations, and did so again on Monday night during a tearful interview aired on ABC’s World News with Charles Gibson.
Attorney Michael Quilling, who represents about 35 account holders, said a favorable ruling on his pleading would result in the court unlocking the 4,000 accounts that the receiver has so far declined to release. He also questioned whether Dallas attorney Ralph Janvey, the court-appointed receiver, has jurisdiction in the case, calling Janvey “a king without a country.”
“The big issue here is that right now thousands of Americans are having their due process rights trampled under the guise of an order that is based on no jurisdiction,” Quilling said. “This is a second victimization. [Account holders] were victimized by the bank and its fraudulent practices and are now being victimized by the court and the receiver.”
Janvey, who was appointed receiver by Judge David Godbey, did not immediately return a message left by the Associated Press.
Janvey had earlier approved the release of about 28,000 accounts.
About 4,000 accounts worth roughly US$1.7 billion remain locked because they included money related to certificates of deposit at the Stanford International Bank in Antigua that are central to the SEC’s fraud case against Stanford and his companies. Other frozen accounts included those owned by Stanford shareholders, board members, senior managers and financial advisers.
“It’s extremely frustrating to investors because many of them have chronic cash needs,” Quilling said. “Two of my clients are 75 and older, and literally every nickel they have is frozen. They don’t know how they are going to pay for groceries.”
In the ABC interview that aired on Monday evening, Stanford denied running a Ponzi scheme and said he expected to be indicted by a federal grand jury in the next few weeks.
“I think the government failed in their oversight and I’m the maverick rich Texan where they can put the moose head on the wall,” he said. “I care for everybody in this company ... and I’m going to fight this with everything in me.”
Stanford called accusations of laundering money for Mexican drug cartels “ludicrous.”
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of