Tx-Sized Fraud Spreads To 131 Countries
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| Thu, 02-19-2009 - 10:23am |
Texas-Sized Fraud Spreads To 131 Countries
R. Allen Stanford Is Missing, And Thousands Of Investors Around The World Wonder If They'll Ever See Their $8 Billion Again
>"The Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation of Stanford had been in the works before the New York financier Madoff gave himself up in December, said a U.S. official with knowledge of the probe who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to provide information about it.
But the agency stepped up enforcement efforts after embarrassing revelations that the SEC had cleared Madoff despite specific tips and multiple investigations, current and former SEC employees said. They said regional offices appeared to be fast-tracking the Stanford case and others with the potential to give the agency another black eye.
One former employee said enforcement officials had told him they were trying to recover from the negative publicity surrounding the Madoff case. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to preserve their relationships with the agency.
SEC officials did not return calls seeking comment."<
See link for article & videos.......
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/02/19/world/main4812407.shtml

Stanford also contributed $2,300 to President Obama's campaign, according to campaign records.
Madoff's contributions were not as prolific. He and his wife donated about $400,000 to political campaigns, and his firm spent about $590,000 on lobbying over the last 11 years."<




The US financial regulator was today under mounting pressure to explain how Allen Stanford escaped scrutiny despite warnings raised by his employees several years ago.
Senior staff at the Houston-based bank of the Texan billionaire disclosed today that they had been concerned as early as 2003 about the cricket impressario's financial dealings.
However, no action was taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) until Mr Stanford’s operations were raided and shut down on Tuesday.
Dennis Kucinich, the chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee in the House of Representatives, said today that Congress would investigate the “mechanics of the fraud” to find out why Mr Stanford was able to evade the SEC's clutches for so long. He claimed that the regulator may have been guilty of failing to do its job.
The development came after the FBI finally tracked down Mr Stanford to the Virginia town of Fredricksburg last night, served him with legal papers and confiscated his passport.
More........
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5772072.ece
Stanford used TD Bank, HSBC's services: report
http://uk.reuters.com/article/burningIssues/idUKTRE51J1XO20090220
Alleged fraudster Stanford 'located in Virginia'
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jFVyg4SadABJ4jPYHtyvn-S8vu6A