HOUSTON, Texas-BILLIONAIRE investor Robert Allen Stanford, who was charged February 17 for billion-dollar fraud, is reportedly being hunted by US Marshals and may have connections to one of Mexico’s most violent drug cartels.
Stanford has reportedly been missing since the Stanford Financial Group’s Houston headquarters was raided on Tuesday and his assets were frozen by the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC).
The freezing of those accounts reportedly led to further trouble for the business mogul as he attempted to charter a private jet out of Houston to fly to Antigua, and the air carrier refused his credit card, insisting upon a wire transfer of the funds instead.
The U.S. authorities originally charged Stanford, his Stanford International Bank Chief Financial Officer James Davis and Chief Investment Officer of the Stanford Financial Group, Laura Pendergest-Holt, with “massive ongoing fraud” based on the sale of high-yield certificates of deposit (CD) under false pretenses.
A 25-page document on the case compiled by the SEC claims that the CDs were sold to investors “by promising high return rates that exceed those available through true certificates of deposits offered by traditional banks”.
Stanford’s former advisor Mark Tidwell was one of the men who help compile the case with the SEC, and he told media that client advisors were told to present reports that they knew contained falsified information in order to sell the CDs.
However, ABC News began reporting federal authorities yesterday (Feb. 18) as saying that Stanford’s illegal business practices may stretch well beyond falsified CDs.
According to that media house, Stanford is also currently under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for money laundering links to “Mexico’s notorious Gulf Cartel” after suspicious checks with possible links to the crime syndicate were recovered from one of his aircraft.
“The SEC had been prepared to move against Stanford earlier, but was asked to hold off because of the FBI’s undercover drug investigation. [However,] this week when officials realized Stanford was moving huge amounts of cash out of his bank they had no choice but to move in, even if it jeopardized the drug money case,” ABC’s Brian Ross reported.
The Stanford scandal has rocked institutions around the world that were tied to the investor. Antigua has been perhaps one of the hardest hit countries, with as much as 5% of the country’s workforce employed at the Stanford International Bank, Bank of Antigua, various cricket operations and The Sun Printing and Publishing Ltd among others.
Since the charges were first brought against Stanford, queues outside of the Bank of Antigua stretched into the hundreds as customers demanded to withdraw their funds under the watchful eye of increased security.
Additionally, Stanford, who turns 59 next month, has been tied through donations and association to some of Washington’s top politicians, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former President Bill Clinton and Republican Senator John McCain.
Many of Stanford’s offices around the US have temporarily closed their operations as the SEC continues to trace the legality of his myriad investments.
The Houston Chronicle spoke to Stanford’s father James, who said that he was alarmed with how quickly the situation surrounding his son has escalated.
“I'd spoken to him a week or so ago about problems with the business climate in general, but nothing of this magnitude. I cannot imagine, I cannot believe, I will not believe what is being alleged actually happened. I cannot believe that my son would run,” he said.
