Texan billionaire Allen Stanford/Reuters
International wires are buzzing today with the news that US Security Exchange Commission (SEC) regulators have charged Antigua based Sir Allen Stanford of ‘massive, ongoing fraud’. The SEC has alleged that Sir Allen has been perpetuating fraudulent transactions through his Antigua based Stanford International Bank.
The Texan billionaire Allen Stanford has become a household name in the Caribbean despite the failure of Caribbean Star. The memory of his failed airline has been replaced in recent times with the very popular Stanford 20/20 cricket series.
Following on the news of the CLICO Affair should we conclude that the tumultuous global financial markets maybe starting to unload on the ‘quiet’ region of the Caribbean region?
Unlike the CLICO Affair which has direct implications for several economies across the Caribbean, the Stanford International Bank probe is restricted to the Antigua market. Some BU family members may challenge the fact that the Caribbean maybe tarred with the same brush given the tendency by outside markets to view the Caribbean region as one area.
Do we see a similarity between the Stanford and CLICO issues?
Financial Analysts suggests that CLICO had adopted a high interest rate regime and with global markets contracting, revenue yields have become negatively affected. At the same time CLICO has had to honour the high rates offered on their large annuity/deposit portfolios. In the case of Stanford the SEC has accused Sir Allen of fraudulent practices in order to guarantee ‘improbable, if not impossible’ rates ranging from 10.3% to 15.15 on Certificate of Deposits since 1995 to 2008.
The possible demise of Sir Allen Stanford’s financial empire will have serious implications for the Antigua economy. Peter Wickham may even suggest that it could affect the outcome of the upcoming general election. It may proved an expensive lesson for the Antiguan authorities to be reminded that one should never build a house on sandy ground.
It has certainly taken the Americans very long to ascertain what Antiguans in the street were saying years ago.
One remembers being driven out of VC Bird Airport 6 years ago by a taximan, who pointed out, showing two buildings on both sides of the road near the airport’s entrance, “These are our two laundromats.”
Naughty, naughty GP.
J, the smarty.
I thought you done figure out dat ever since! LOL
Strangly, here in the states, it’s the first I’ve head of this.
As long as Americans don’t loose anything, they don’t seem to care much.
That is not strange Daniel. Most Americans or folk who live in America dont really know much about what happens in thier country.
They can answer questions on movies and pop music and other trivia, but when it comes to serious issues that relate to life and living they are mostly at sea.
Handling the global crisis and the recent Clico matter are enough to stretch any Caribbean country. Now Antigua has to deal with the Stanford issue. Reports out of Antigua this evening say that there was a run on Stanford’s local bank Bank of Antigua.
This guy loves banks!
David
What is becoming very clear on listening to various programs with the big wig economists, is that the nonsense happening in the USA was also occuring globally especially in the larger economies.
So at crunch time it has a greater effect than if only the USA was doing it (not forgetting that the USA was importing a lot from these countries, to many of which they had satelite companies making items for the whom market as part of a tax evasion scenario.)
This is sad since it tarnishes all us West indians and the offshore sector.
Sir Allen promised what he could not deliver and for anyone who has seen Stanford Aviation or the SIB offices there was a sense of oppulence which gave a veneer of trust.
If what the SECOND states is proven then we need to start putting more teeth into our regulators. For Hewlett and Co to be the auditors of a company like Stanford should in itslef been a signal that something is not right.
Oh most of the $8bn in CDs were sold to US investors.
“We have – and want – nothing to do with Sir Allen Stanford. Baruba is not Barbuda. “
With this terse statement the Royal Bank of Baruba (ROB-BAR) today distanced itself from the furore surrounding Stanford, charged Tuesday with a “massive” $8.5bn (£6bn) fraud at his Antigua and Barbuda based bank.
A spokesperson for ROB-BAR said no further comment would be forthcoming and asked for all donations to be made out to the ROB-BAR Fund for Barubans who have lost their life savings by depositing with Stanford’s bank or Iceland.
http://barubapost.com/
We listened to the ridiculous comment by Dr. Julian Hunte the head honcho at WIBC saying the board had stop all negotiations with the Stanford group. What a stupid statement.
daniel wrote “Strangely, here in the states, it’s the first I’ve head of this.
As long as Americans don’t loose anything, they don’t seem to care much.”
Its now on the front page of the New York Times and likely other newspapers as well.
It likely will be mostly upper middle class Americans who will lose their money.
For the most part ordinary Caribbean people have no money to put into “investment banks” since after paying the mortgage, buying the food and raising the children there is little or nothing left to invest.
The SEC as it must do, acted to protect American investors. It must try to protect American investors, especially elderly American investors If only Antiguan money was at stake the SEC would indeed have little or no interest in acting. For Antiguan money the Antiguan government would have had to seek to protect Antiguans.
However in the real world it is as our grandparents used to say “every pot gotta stan’ up put it own bottom”
“every man for himself”
I knew something was afoot when he dissolved the directors of the 2020 cricket series, I e-mailed Imran Khan; his Media Communications Officer who said nothing – even when he was online and could IM with me – Imran and I usually chat, so I knew real crap was going down, just didn’t know what until now… Guess Digicel must be laughing now!
I am glad that the W.I cricketers won that U.S 20mil. I just hope they value it more now because it is the one and only really big payday they would get from him.
Question: were the WI cricketers who won the $20mm “encouraged” to put their money in Stanford’s banks? Are they going to have anything left of their winnings when this is all done?
@X
That would be a very bitter pill and may explain the dismal performance put up agains England yesterday.
The dismal performance put up agains England yesterday is actually very characteristic of the team- especially the collapse from 200/3 to be all out for less than 300.
The performance in the first test was not the norm. There they actually batted for more than a day. Yesterday they just resorted to type.
Georgie Porgie // February 17, 2009 at 8:06 pm
That is not strange Daniel. Most Americans or folk who live in America dont really know much about what happens in thier country.
They can answer questions on movies and pop music and other trivia, but when it comes to serious issues that relate to life and living they are mostly at sea.
===========================
While you continue to spout your stupidity, people living in this country continue to act. They will just try to ignore the small-mindedness that seems to infect at least one islander.
http://www.nationnews.com/story/334975070136828.php
J it was in last friday’s WSJ, and before that it was on financial talk radio.
Dear cancerman “This is sad since it tarnishes all us West indians”
How is it that you feel that all West Indians are tarnished because an American is charged with fraud?
I can assure you that this West Indian does NOT at all feel tarnished.
I ain’t do nuthin’ wrong.
Tarnish wuh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
C-R-A-P !
here is a relevant, related review on this issue
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/stanford-probe-causes-ripples-of-concern/?scp=2&sq=stanford&st=cse
The hope that if the cricketers who won that money and had it on Standford’s bank, got it off in time. Fortunately, they are playing in Antigua and they should have had a hint of what was happening before it was made public.
Pingback: Global Voices Online » Caribbean, U.S.A.: Stanford Charged with Fraud
It wouldn’t be unusual for there to be a requirement, or an offer accompanied with some attractive marketing gimmicks like high return, cheque writing facilities etc as enticements for the winners to bank with Stanford financial.
ha ha ha we allowed our selves to be foold again!
We need to remember what Kenyata said!
We will never LEARN!
I am sick of being the parent race!
Seen here:
http://thepooffingtonheist.com/
Wealthy American citizens with overseas bank accounts are finding little comfort tonight.
In an unprecedented action Swiss banking giant UBS agreed on Wednesday to pay $780 million to settle federal claims that it helped wealthy Americans evade taxes and to disclose the names of up to 19,000 clients.
In New York a leading Wall Street figure who insisted on remaining anonymous said, “It’s an open secret the Feds are going after billions of dollars stashed overseas. They say Bernie Madoff swindled $50 billion and Allen Stanford a similar amount. Now do the math. The UBS had 19,000 names. And that’s one bank in one country. Multiply the number of banks in the countries encouraging money-laundering by thousands of depositors.
“People are asking ‘Where did the money go?’ Now you know.”
If you do not understand how the system of Global Racism/White Supremacy works, then everything you think you know will only confuse you.
-Neely Fuller Jr.-
🙂
does anyone have a copy of the picture of Stanford next to a huge box of cash just a few month ago?
Whose cash was it really?
Where is the country of Baruba located?
Halfway between here and Aruba.
“Just beyond your imagination”
@ Anonymous:
A short history of Baruba.
http://barubapost.com/2009/01/05/where-is-baruba/
@barubapost.com
Well, well, well. I did not even know of this island until this week. If you dont have a supermarket, I guess you dont have an airport. How do I get there before all the ‘tourists’ arrive?
How do I book my beach shack, how do I get food, is there a cook-house on the beach or somewhere nearby?
If I dont want to copulate on the beach, what is there for me to do between bathing and eating, if we cant visit the hinterland? Does this mean there is no sighseeging nor interaction with the locals?
Please give us some more information. Thanks.
anonymouss:
You wanted a last look at Stanford’s cash:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/england/4691158/Stanford-exit-gives-us-chance-to-put-morality-ahead-of-money-again.html
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, another notorious, billionaire scammer gets the kid glove treatment because he apparently has connections.
Who’s behind Madoff?
By Wayne Madsen
(WMR) — As the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it had cut a deal with $50 billion Ponzi scammer Bernard Madoff whereby Madoff will neither admit nor deny fraud claims against him in a suit brought by the SEC. In return Madoff has agreed to pay civil fines and penalties levied by the SEC. The agreement has no bearing on Madoff’s criminal trial.
WMR has learned that in addition to 20 million documents stored by Madoff in a warehouse in Queens that were stored without any indexing system and merely placed in boxes and strewn around the floor are millions of additional documents that were stored by Madoff in a Brooklyn warehouse that was partially flooded. A number of the Madoff documents there were destroyed by water damage.
WMR has also learned that a key element in Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was Madoff Energy LLC, formed as a Delaware corporation in February 2007. Other Madoff firms in the energy arena were Madoff Energy Holdings LLC, Madoff Energy III LLC, and Madoff Energy IV LLC. There are links between these now-defunct Madoff energy entities and Texas oil and natural gas industry interests, some close to the Bushes and Dick Cheney.
WMR has also learned that the kid glove treatment given by federal authorities to Madoff, including allowing him to remain in his Upper East Side luxury town home, is because Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was part of a much larger operation, one involving top officials of both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, as well as the notorious Russian-Israeli Mafia
http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_4385.shtml
Now all one has to do is follow the money and see cui bono, cui bono! Just look under every rock and you’ll see a stinking, thiefing, criminal ‘zionist’ pig in cahoots with the damn filthy jesuits and christians. And look at whom Barat has guarding the henhouse, a FOX. All the dirty criminals. Geithner did not give a damn about paying taxes but yet they confirmed him as Treasury Secretary – the same org. that will hunt down your average jane/joe and locking up for refusing to feed the damn leeches. Daschle too had a tax problem but was rejected (by the way I don’t think he a zionist). Barat just went over to Canada yesterday to pick out the best coffin for the Amerycan sheeple, because Ameryca is DONE. They’re busy constructing that wall i.e borridor corridor (under the guise of free trade) that’s gonna keep their asses locked in because they’ve already prepared the mobile prison camps. This shit is gonna make Katrina look like a pyjama party. If one just look at all governments around the world today, they are all run by CRIMINALS starting with the USofA. And the others are just blackmailable with some little dirty secret. And by the way Barbados Central Bank is nothing more than a waiter, it takes orders!
@ Pat
Sorry for the delay…
Remember copulation is free even if you lose all your savings.
Here’s more on the many world’s banks cock-ups from today’s edition.
My God what is disgusting looking face and set of teeth. He looks like the kind of guy who drives around in the summer looking for kids to pick-up. ha ha ha ha ha
Oh that Mr. Allan Stanfraud, the Lord will deal with him
And by the way Barbados Central Bank is nothing more than a waiter, it takes orders!
___________________________
@ Hopi
ha ha ha that one bad fah real! I got to tell somebody that one excellent!
ha ha lol!
Youtube video: Congressman Dennis Kucinich interviewed on Fox Business channel says someone ordered the SEC to drop an ongoing investigation of Stanford’s operation back in 2006.
Just remember that Stanford was good enough to be knighted by Queen Elizardbeth but his downfall came when he allowed a Few Good Talented Black Men to raise their heads above the poverty level by pumping money into cricket and awarding them US$1m. each. Now that was too much for these little Black boys fr these dots in the Caribbean. After so many years in this scheme, its only now that they’ve realised that he’s a fraud? Why don’t they exposed everyone else?
JC….Tek it easy!
Hopi you have made a valid observation concerning why now. It is well documented that Stanford has been under investigation since 2006. Why was he allowed to grow his financial empire?
Dear Hopi you wrote “Just remember that Stanford was good enough to be knighted by Queen Elizardbeth but his downfall came when he allowed a Few Good Talented Black Men to raise their heads above the poverty level by pumping money into cricket and awarding them US$1m”
Stanford was not knighted by Queen Elizabeth.
His knighthood was very controversial. Probably most Antiguans were opposed, because they saw it for the sham that it was/is.
Stanford’s 20/20 was NEVER about liberating black men. It was always about Stanford. Stanford knew the facts from lat year, yet he encouraged those good talented black men to reinvest in his company. That sounds right to you?
If we the cricket loving public want to liberate good talented black men (and yes that is a good thing to do) we have to put our money where our mouths (or fingers) are. We have to PAY the MONEY to get past the gates at Kensington, and Sabina and Bourda and Queen’s Park.
I never let my boys play without me at Kengsington. I am always there
Do you support the guys with your money Hopi?
And besides everybody know that 20 overs of cricket is NOT worth USD$1 million.
It worth what we the spectators are willing to pay; and what real sponsors who have real products to sell are willing to pay.
Anything else is inflationary, unsustainable nonsense.