HOUSTON, Texas - ALLEN STANFORD, who stands accused by the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) of roughly US $8 billion in fraud, has refused to testify in court or give up documents under the protection of the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution.
In a signed affidavit filed in court yesterday (Mar. 11), Stanford stated his intension to not testify or provide any documents for an SEC lawsuit against him, two colleagues and three affiliated companies.
“I hereby assert my privilege against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution and decline to testify or provide an accounting, and will continue to decline to testify, provide an accounting or produce any documents,” the affidavit signed by Stanford said.
The Fifth Amendment is a part of the US Bill of Rights in the Constitution and states:
“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
According to Bloomburg, Stanford stated in the document that he would not “provide any information about his personal background or assets, conduct related to the Stanford Financial Group of companies, his communications with co- defendants, or regarding any funds he received or transferred related to the CDs at the heart of the government’s allegations”.
The billionaire investor’s father, James Stanford, who serves on the Board of the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank also reportedly pled the Fifth in the case so as not to self-incriminate. Additionally, he refused to answer any questions about the company’s operations or how his son acquired his massive fortune.
Apart from Stanford, Chief Financial Officer of the Stanford Financial Group, James M. Davis, and Chief Investment Officer Laura Pendergest-Holt are also listed as defendants in the SEC suit, which stems largely from the sale of certificates of deposit under the guise of improbably high returns.
To date, Pendergest-Holt is the only one of the defendants to have criminal charges brought against them, as she was charged with criminal obstruction of justice and was subsequently released on US $300,000 bond.
