Madoff Case Led SEC to Intensify Stanford Probe

[depakid]

Source: Wall Stree Journal

For years, allegations have dogged R. Allen Stanford, the Texas businessman accused this week of an $8 billion fraud. But a lack of coordination among federal agencies -- and the difficulty of obtaining information from his bank in Antigua, where financial oversight is relatively light -- kept regulators from gaining a full picture of the situation, current and former officials said.

They say the matter broke open in December after Bernard Madoff allegedly told his sons that he had been operating a $50 billion fraud. That sent the Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into high gear.

Two years earlier, in October 2006, the SEC's Fort Worth, Texas, office had opened a formal investigation into Stanford's sale of certificates of deposit, which eventually led to civil charges on Tuesday against Mr. Stanford and associates by the SEC. The 2006 probe followed a lawsuit, filed earlier that year in Florida state court, in which a former Stanford executive accused the company of operating a Ponzi scheme. That suit was settled.

Mr. Stanford hasn't responded to the civil fraud charges brought by the SEC on Tuesday. No criminal charges have been filed.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123500982598918793.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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How sorry is it that it took Latin American's writing on the internet PLUS Bernie Madoff to bring this situation to a head?

[acmavm]

1. This statement alone shows that there was some really dirty deals being

run out of the bush**s administration and the SEC.