Where in the world is Allen Stanford? The Manhunt Begins

[malaise]

I said he would use that fleet of aircraft to disappear.
http://www.portfolio.com/views/blogs/market-movers/2009/02/17/stanford-the-manhunt-begins
<snip>
Stanford: The Manhunt Begins

Given the amount of time that the SEC and the media have been sniffing around his operation, today's fraud charges can't have come as much surprise to Allen Stanford. And given that he owns banks in many different jurisdictions (the FT has found entities not only in the US and Antigua, but also New Zealand, Switzerland, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Panama, Venezuela, and, of course, Panama), as well as what Matthew Goldstein calls "a number of private jets", one expects that at this point his contingency plan is well underway.

Yesterday, Stanford spokesman Brian Bertsch "wouldn't discuss the whereabouts of the Texas billionaire", probably because he didn't know those whereabouts. It's probably a safe guess, however, to say that he's not in the US, and neither is he in the US Virgin Islands, where he lives most of the year. Antigua? It's possible, but I'd say unlikely. More probable is somewhere with an ask-no-questions private-banking industry and a vague-to-nonexistent extradition treaty with the US.

Remember that according to the SEC complaint, the lion's share of Stanford's assets were placed in a "black box" under the control of just two people: CFO James Davis, and Allen Stanford himself. Remember too that Stanford has been reneging on deals to provide tens of millions of dollars in financing to the kind of micro-cap companies the firm specializes in. Stanford probably had that money cued up in liquid form, ready to go; I wouldn't be at all surprised if he just decided to trouser it personally instead.

[marketcrazy1]

1. how many more Stanford`s and Maddof`s are out there??

there are THOUSANDS of hedge funds and investment companies out there! I would venture to guess HUNDREDS are frauds and so far only a bare handful have been uncovered!!. do you know where YOUR money is????

[Pachamama]

18. I believe there are many more...I think the other shoe will drop and we haven't seen the worst yet

I think there are many many Ponzi scheme operations out there that so far got away for the longest time and were able to operate without much regulation or oversight or investigation. But now they are living on borrowed time and its all crumbling around them and the lights are about to be turned on. And when it does, I can't even imagine how bad it really is. There might not be anyone the size of Madoff, but I think lots of people even a 1/4 the size can cause a whole lot of damage.

Many people don't know it yet, but there money is gone...long gone and they won't see it again. I think the darkest times are still ahead.

[Wapsie B]

2. Amazing that people like Madoff and Stanford have little oversight

until something is so far gone it's tragic. People and institutions just hand over the money looking for high returns on their investments. No one's looking over their shoulder to keep tabs on them. Sure there are SEC laws, but you can see how much good that did. If a pension plan forks over a sum of money you would think they'd assign someone from these institutions to monitor what's happening with all that money.

[Mist]

6. Oversight?! But these guys have to be **FREE** so they can let their

creativity bloom to make more money which helps the whole economy! (There are STILL some Rethugs who are fighting tooth and nail against oversight).

[Wapsie B]

15. Yeah free to ransack this country more than it already has been.

[DCKit]

22. Even Clinton endorsed "hands-off" and deregulation of the markets...

so Wall St. and the Bankers had over 25 unbroken years to develop and perfect these scams, unmolested by regulators. Hell, these tactics and schemes were probably being taught to the entire generation now running the freak show - greed is good and the ends (retirement by 30) justify the means. Even if they knew what they were doing was wrong, it was the business model.

That these scams were accelerated and multiplied to the point of collapse under the most recent maladministration can hardly come as a surprise to the old guard and those responsible for oversight of the economic rapists.

The scary thing is, had they got their mitts on Social Security, they could have covered their asses for another couple of years and it wouldn't have ended until EVERYTHING was gone.

[aquart]

3. I knew it. They don't have him.

Paraguay? Any chance of a little friendly bounty hunter competition for him?

[malaise]

4. Yep you kept asking if he had been arrested

No shock here

[Ghost Dog]

5. Speaks Spanish, does he?

... Any other languages?

[malaise]

7. Antigua radio tonight

http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/mini.cgi?membername=observerradio&site=pro&tm=2093

They just said every news organization from the US is there and of course cricket is going on so there are at least 100 English journalists are there too.

[Ghost Dog]

13. Heh heh. The Guardian had this (earlier):

ECB cut off negotiations on new sponsorship deal.

Nope. It's not the European Central Bank. It's the English Cricket Board. :silly:

[malaise]

14. Our board as well

I'm an obsessive cricket fan :D
The fun part was reading the ECB fool say they did due diligence. I've been asking about Stanford here for years. Something was clearly wrong.

[Patsy Stone]

8. If he was really that smart, he'd have opened an office in a country

without an extradition treaty.

[malaise]

9. Have to wonder if he'll contact that young son

Should be interesting

[Ichingcarpenter]

10. Interesting comment at that site: I think this might be true

It's worth remembering that the SEC does not have the authority to prosecute criminal actions and no formal indictment is forthcoming from the SEC. One may be coming from the DOJ, but that is an entirely separate matter. The SEC's weak teeth are going to be significantly challenged in compelling Stanford's appearance. So he loses any licenses, etc.? Or he gets fined significantly? I doubt he cares too terribly much. However, right now, extradition is a long way from something he has to worry about just yet.

[malaise]

11. I'm listening to the radio station in Antigua

and a caller just said she heard he was under house arrest in Antigua.
The host said he read that he cannot be found. He has not been arrested so how can he be under house arrest.

[malaise]

12. The Stanford Complaint pdf

http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/Stanfordcomplaint20090217.PDF

[nashville_brook]

16. flew off in his gold-plated helicopter, did he?

[malaise]

17. Looks that way

Rachel just had a great report. I can't wait for the English press tomorrow. They are still pissed over his behavior at the tournament.

[Pachamama]

19. Well, he's a huge "Cricket" fan, so maybe he's in India - or Pakistan?

:eyes:

Pakistan might be good...seems to have worked out well for a lot of Bin Laden's boys....

[dendrobium]

20. How many more?

The Turks and Caicos and Jamaica are already reeling from the Olint/David Smith and Cash Plus ponzi schemes. So many people put their money into these schemes. It makes me wonder how many other "legitimate" financial institutions may turn out to be frauds too. The Caribbean community in Florida also heavily invested in these schemes.

The only cold comfort is that Jamaicans are used to hard times and we will find a way to survive this economic meltdown.

[malaise]

21. Well the weekend newspaper said that there are 40 unregistered

financial institutions.

[anonymous171]

23. He's probably dead.

Or maybe he will turn himself in, but go full Ken Lay before he has to stand trial.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

24. Prediction - A yacht of his will be found and a suicide letter aboard

He will be off to the plastic surgeons in some country where he has gazillions stashed. I mean, it's not like he wouldn't have a Plan B.

[Wapsie B]

25. Works for me.

Someone like him would be able disappear without a trace; new identity, new look, new life.

[malaise]

26. He's in the US they think

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29257569
<snip>
Meanwhile, the brash, 58-year-old financier sought to get a one-way flight out of the U.S. to Antigua, CNBC reported Wednesday. Citing an unnamed source in the private jet industry, CNBC said Stanford contacted a private jet owner Tuesday and attempted to pay for the flight with a credit card, but was refused because the company would only accept a wire transfer.

His whereabouts remained unclear on Wednesday, a day after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused him of operating a fraud centered on the sale of certificates of deposit from his Antiguan affiliate, Stanford International Bank Ltd. (SIB).
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I'm not sure I buy this - he must know all his assets were frozen.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

27. A jet! A jet! My kindom for a jet!

Very poor planning on his part to not have a private jet of his own.