Texas financier R. Allen Stanford was tracked down on Thursday to Virginia, where FBI agents served him with legal papers in a multibillion-dollar fraud case.
FBI agents, acting at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), served Stanford court orders and other documents, the FBI and the SEC said.
Stanford is not under arrest and is not in custody.
In a civil complaint on Tuesday, the SEC accused Stanford, two other executives and three of his companies with committing an US$8 billion fraud that lured investors with promises of improbable and unsubstantiated high returns on certificates of deposit and other investments. It’s not clear how much of the US$8 billion was lost and how much investors might recover.
Until regulators received help on Thursday from the FBI, the SEC had not been able to find Stanford.
A law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the billionaire was served on Thursday afternoon by an agent who had staked out a location in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
The agent spotted Stanford around 1:45pm in a car driven by Stanford’s girlfriend. The agent spoke to Stanford, who was riding in the passenger side, the official said. The agent handed Stanford the SEC complaint, a federal court order freezing Stanford’s assets and another order naming a receiver.
Stanford told the agent he understood and would make arrangements to surrender his passport, the official said.
Stanford has not been charged with any crime, though federal agents continue to investigate the case.
The fallout from the fraud case is already rattling around the global financial system.
Venezuela on Thursday seized a failed bank controlled by Stanford after a run on deposits there, while clients were prevented from withdrawing their money from Stanford International Bank and its affiliates in a half-dozen other countries.
Stanford’s father, James, 81, told reporters in Mexia, Texas, on Thursday that he hoped the allegations aren’t true.
“I have no earthly knowledge of it,” said the elder Stanford, listed as chairman emeritus and a director for Stanford Financial Group. “I would be totally surprised if there would be truth to it. And disappointed, heartbroken.”
He said he would tell his son to “Do the right thing.”
Stanford, 58, owns a home in the US Virgin Islands and operates businesses from Houston, Texas, to Miami, Florida, and Switzerland to Antigua, where he holds citizenship and the government knighted him in 2006 in recognition of his economic influence and charity work.
A US federal judge appointed a receiver to identify and protect Stanford’s assets worldwide, including about US$8 billion managed by the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank, which has affiliates in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
Also frozen were assets of Houston-based Stanford Capital Management and Stanford Group Co, which has 29 brokerage offices in the US.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College