Overview

Robert Allen Stanford is a former American-Antiguan financier serving a 110-year federal prison sentence for orchestrating a $7 billion Ponzi scheme through his Stanford Financial Group and Stanford International Bank (SIB) based in Antigua. Stanford styled himself as a Texas billionaire and cricket mogul; receiving a knighthood from the Antiguan government and insisting on being called "Sir Allen." His fraud centered on certificates of deposit (CDs) sold through SIB; which promised consistently high returns that Stanford claimed came from a diversified investment portfolio. In reality; the money was used to fund Stanford's lavish lifestyle; buy real estate; fund cricket tournaments; and make new payments to earlier investors. The scheme ran for over two decades before unraveling in February 2009; shortly after Bernie Madoff's arrest prompted increased scrutiny of high-return investment operations. The SEC filed a civil enforcement action on February 17; 2009; and Stanford was arrested by the FBI in June 2009. Investigators discovered that the SEC had received multiple warnings about Stanford's operations dating back to 1997 but failed to act; a failure later attributed in part to Stanford's massive political campaign contributions ($7 million to both parties over a decade). Stanford was convicted on 13 of 14 counts in March 2012; including fraud; conspiracy; and obstruction; and sentenced to 110 years in prison. His case is the second-largest Ponzi scheme in American history after Madoff.

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Controversies & Concerns

Related Investigations (2)

Sources & Documentation

3 documented sources from official records, investigations, and reports