Oh, ho, ho...I'm digging and finding dirty shirt in re: Allen Stanford.

[originalpckelly]

This is the first thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5101662&mesg_id=5101662

OK, so after I looked up the people who contributed at this one July 25, 2008 fundraiser in the Virgin Islands for NY Rep Greg W. Meeks (DLCer-6th District) I found two people:
1. An electrician from Texas, he doesn't have any obviously links to the financial industry
2. Kevin Brandt, who is a head guy at James River Capital, a firm that fined by the organization that created the NASDAQ, The National Association of Securities Dealers (it has since become FIRNA or Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.) His company was fined for market timing issues, I remember hearing about a bunch of these fines going out in 2006. So his company is suspicious because it looks like they play fast and loose with regulations.
3. When I looked up the political donations of Mr. Kevin Brandt of the Virgin Islands, I found that he donated to some of the very same people that Mr. Allen Stanford and his high executives at Stanford Financial Group donated to.
4. This makes me wonder if Mr. Brandt isn't a crook in his own right, perhaps they were both in on corrupting legislators?
5. I decided to look up donations made by Mr. Brandt to see if I couldn't find people who lived in the VI donating on the same day, perhaps at a fundraiser, which what that pattern turned out to be with Mr. Brandt as it concerned Rep. Meeks in NY.
6. I came upon multiple same day donations from people involved with a company called "Windward Capital, LLC" an organization that appears to be some kind of hedge fund. One of the people involved with Windward Capital, a Mr. James Gallivan JR., is also involved an listed in same day donations with Mr. Brandt as associated with "Investment Security Services, LLP".
7. When I went to look up Investment Security Services in Google, it turns out they have a Washington, D.C. lobbyist/lobbying firm lobbying on behalf of them to "ENFORCE THE IRS STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR U.S. CITIZENS IN THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS" and "AMEND LAWS REGARDING U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS RESIDENCY", which looks like something someone in the Virgin Islands for suspicious reasons would lobby for, doesn't it?
8. Didn't Mr. Stanford have a high priced lobbyist lobbying for something along the same exact lines?

Here's a list of activities that Wyman engaged in:
http://www.implu.com/lobbyist/23756

Google says she's a former Clinton Admin. associated person:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5243/is_200005/ai_n20038493

What's interesting is that when I looked up Stanford Financial Group in this database, it turns out that Stanford Financial Group is itself a registered as a lobbying firm! Isn't that weird? Odd when your company is registered as a lobbying firm. The database says they spent over a million bucks lobbying, but just gives the general description:
"GENERAL FINANCIAL ISSUES THAT MIGHT AFFECT STANFORD FINAICIAL GROUP"

They employed lobbyists JAMES K. CONZELMAN & LIONEL C. JOHNSON.

According to a Congressional Staffer pay database, Conzelman was Chief of Staff to the House Financial Services Committee in 2006! Holy shit, talk about someone who's bound to be a well connected lobbyist! According to the lobbying database, he lobbied exclusively for Stanford Financial! He also was at Citigroup as a "VP and Director of Intl Gov Affairs". I bet he was. :eyes:

Here's that Congressional Staffer pay database entry I was talking about:
http://www.legistorm.com/person/James_K_Conzelman/16050.html

Lionel C. Johnson was, according to Open Secrets, a former member of the Clinton Admin official, could he be tied with the lobbyist for Investment Security Services, who was also part of Clinton admin and worked on environmental stuff too?
http://www.opensecrets.org/revolving/rev_summary.php?id=6144

If you look at Conzelman, he's associated with Republicans, if you look at Johnson, he's associated with Democrats (and Clinton was DLCer, so maybe it's conservative Democrats?)

Here's Stanford Financial's general search results:
http://www.implu.com/search/stanford_financial_group

You can then navigate to the lobbying info from there. This, I believe, has already been reported.

But I think I'm working on an angle that hasn't been explored yet, people who donated in conjunction with Stanford, namely Investment Security Services and James River Capital.

So yeah, I'm on to something, don't know what. I just thought I'd give you all a continuing heads up. I didn't even know there was a database of lobbying stuff! :rofl: I'm stupid, I know.

[originalpckelly]

1. Conzelman also works for Baker & Hostetler a big legal firm...

http://www.bakerlaw.com/

Look at their home page, do you see how many big names they represent? Well, according to the Federal Election Commission's donation database, he's the registered contact for their political action committee. Interesting?

[elizfeelinggreat]

2. It is interesting.

Thanks.

[originalpckelly]

3. Who wants to see where the lobbyist for Mr. Stanford lives in DC?

I have the theme music to All The President's Men playing in my head right now. :rofl:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=1530+O+Street+NW,+Washington,+D.C.&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=41.139534,93.164063&ie=UTF8&ll=38.908738,-77.035489&spn=0.002475,0.005686&t=h&z=18&iwloc=addr

It even has a Google Street View! Awesome, I just love fucking Google. Things are just getting so cool because of them. I don't even live in DC, but I can see this guys house/place of business.

[originalpckelly]

4. Conzelman donated to Republicans, he's definitely the guy who corrupted them..

I'm going to see if he doesn't have any same day multiple donations (which indicates that he donated in the context of a fundraiser.)

[originalpckelly]

5. It appears that Conzelman donated in the context of a fundraiser for

OH Representative Robert (Bob) Latta. He's a Republican.

No one else at this fundraiser appears to be openly crooked like Mr. Stanford's lobbyist, but it does beg whether or not Latta is on the take from Stanford if he not only received funds from his lobbyist, but the lobbyist was at one of his fundraisers.

[originalpckelly]

6. Conzelman donated to Mean Jean Schmidt! YES YES YES!

And we know that he was lobbying on behalf of crooked financial guy Stanford! Now that's rewarding to see, I just detest that skunk.

[originalpckelly]

7. Conzelman also donated to Continuing A Majority PAC...

on 2/19/2008 a date which appears to have many multiple donations from both PACs and people, suggesting some type of fundraiser. CAMPAC is a Republican PAC, whose name appears to be slightly out of date. :P

[KittyWampus]

8. do you have the info that indicates Stanford gets linked to a Mexican drug cartel?

I just read something like that.

Cause it seems with the NeoCons/Bush Crime Family it's an Unholy Trinity of Bank scandal, Drugs and Arms Trading.

All we need to find out now is where the Arms Trading comes in.

[originalpckelly]

12. Not yet, that kind of stuff wouldn't be open for someone like me to find out...

the only reason I've found this other stuff is that it's public record. It's really just a matter of looking at open sources and drawing conclusions based upon those sources.

[malaise]

9. Have you checked this morning's NYT?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/business/21stanford.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

[originalpckelly]

10. No, I haven't, will now!

Thanks for the help malaise. This short little "investigation" leaves me with the impression Americans don't live in a democracy, but a bribocracy.

[originalpckelly]

11. This line:

“There seemed to be a complete breakdown of the normal barriers between the regulator and the regulated,”

It's called regulatory capture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture

[malaise]

14. That is because the political class have sold us out

lock, stock and barrel.

[originalpckelly]

17. They have, I think we need a revolution of some kind.

It's building in me for years, originally when I found out that Bush spied on Americans without warrants, I really started the notion the anyone who could do that was unrestrained by law. Only in recent years did I come to realize that at least 1/2 of government was crooked, namely the Republicans. Now I have seen evidence that both sides are crooked. We the people on the bottom may not be, but the people at the top are.

[originalpckelly]

13. I think I found a link to Thomas Church that electrician I found at the Meeks fundraiser:

"Mr. Stanford’s first foray into business, however, was far from finance. He started with a chain of body-building gyms in Waco, Tex. He later claimed to make much of his fortune in the 1980s buying distressed properties in Houston."

It would stand to reason that a man who buys "distressed properties" would come to befriend an electrician who may have worked on some of his distressed properties, wouldn't you say? :shrug:

Seems like a logical link. Thanks for the story malaise, it's very helpful!

[malaise]

15. Good spot

This mess did not have to happen

[Celebration]

16. creepy

"He came up with a shiny new logo for his company, a Golden Eagle, which he described as a knight’s shield and required all employees to wear."

It also said Bill Nelson of Florida got the most $$$.

[originalpckelly]

19. Yep, if you look at the database it confirms that...

but Allen Stanford is only part of the story. I found some other people, one of whom Kevin Brandt, who operates a hedge fund that got into trouble for market timing problems. These guys I'm looking into are operating out of the Virgin Islands, another place not exactly known for being on the up and up.

One of the people who took money from Stanford or his high employees was Bob Ney, former Congressman who went to prison in connection with the Abramoff scandal, it suggests that this Stanford guy was conducting an Abramoff style fraud, but this time it was really bi-partisan, instead of affecting Republicans. It's like a universal indictment of the politicians in Washington, D.C.

[malaise]

20. It's like a universal indictment of the politicians in Washington, D.C.

Perfect.

Watch this
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02202009/profile.html

add

[malaise]

22. Did you see this article by Molly Ivins from 2006

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20060717_molly_ivins_suicide_capitalism/
<snip>
AUSTIN, Texas—In case you haven’t got anything else to worry about—like war in the Middle East, nuclear showdowns, global warming or Apocalypse Now—how about the suicide of capitalism?

Late last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals struck down a new rule by the Securities and Exchange Commission requiring mandatory registration with the SEC for most hedge funds. This may not strike you as the end of the world, but that’s because you’ve either forgotten what a hedge fund is or how much trouble the funds can get us into.

These investment pools for rich folks are now a $1.2-trillion industry (known to insiders, I am pleased to report, as “the hedge fund community”). Hedge funds are now beginning to be used by average investors and pension investors. Back in 1998, there was this little-bitty old hedge fund called Long Term Capital Management. Because hedge funds make high-risk bets, Long Term Capital got itself in so much trouble its collapse actually threatened to wreck world markets, and regulators had to step in to negotiate a $3.6-billion bailout. A similar fiasco at this point probably would break world markets.

The Securities and Exchange Commission under William Donaldson (appointed after the Enron mess) had tried to regulate hedge funds. But Christopher Cox, current SEC chairman and no friend of regulation, said he would consult other members of the administration about whether to appeal the ruling, which “came on the same day as disclosures,” reports The Washington Post, that the feds “are investigating Pequot Capital Management, Inc., a $7 billion hedge fund, for possible insider trading.” Nice timing, judges.

This is the third time in less than a year the appeals court has blocked the SEC from acting beyond its authority. According to The Washington Post, “Former SEC member Harvey J. Goldschmid, who voted to approve the plan, yesterday urged regulators to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, members of Congress or both. In the Pequot case, a former SEC lawyer who worked on the Pequot investigation before being fired by the agency has written a letter to key members of the Senate banking and finance committees alleging that the SEC dropped the probe because of political pressure.” The lawyer said he was prevented by political pressure from interviewing a top Wall Street executive. Sources said the executive was John J. Mack, once chairman of Pequot and now chief executive of Morgan Stanley—and a major fundraiser for President Bush’s campaigns. I’d say the guy’s wired.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

18. Good work.

Keep it up!

[annabanana]

21. This thread needs kicking through the weekend & into the offices

of our dear cuberats!

[originalpckelly]

23. I have found so much today. As it concerns American pols, it's not Antigua...

but the Virgin Islands, which are the key to this story. I think they bribed Congress to keep tax breaks down there, which are substantial. Usually the highest bracket is 35%, well, down there it's only 5%. There are requirements however, and each of people I've looked into seem to have followed them like a checklist. The people who were bribed in connection to this were on the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Budget Committee, which both oversee tax laws/IRS and would have obviously been in a position to conduct actions on behalf of their bribers.

Now, there was another set of bribes going on, as far as I can tell, probably to get people on committees that oversee the financial industries to look the other way to certain questionable business practices.

There may have also been some influence buying as it concerned people who deal with international trade.

[malaise]

24. Not sure Antigua is out of this

afterall Stanford literally rewrote the banking laws for the Bird administration.

[originalpckelly]

25. Why bribe American officials for something in Antigua?

There's probably only so much good bribes to US politicians can do in regards to Antigua, probably only keep investigators off his tale. On the other hand, the Virgin Islands (as it concerns this) are US territory.

My concern in this matter is how it has corrupted American politics. Now, on a wider scale, we're only beginning to know.

[malaise]

26. Well it gave him the belief that he was 'untouchable'

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6275031.html
<snip>
For the time being, at least, the would-be Caribbean prince who once boasted to an employee in Florida that his contacts and money made him “untouchable” — he and his company have reportedly spent more than $5 million on political contributions and lobbyists — is just another guy with cash-flow problems.

Stanford has not been charged with any crime, but federal prosecutors have launched an investigation in concert with the SEC, the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service.
-----------------------
Did you know that his lawyer worked with the SEC for 20 years?

http://www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=40993
<snip>
Before entering private practice, Sjoblom had worked for the SEC for 20 years. From 1987 to 1999, he was an assistant chief litigation counsel in the SEC’s Division of Enforcement – the same division of the agency whose representatives were peppering Pendergest-Holt with questions Feb. 10.

The Stanford lawyer in the room while Pendergest-Holt gave her testimony, however, soon removed himself from the picture. He gave notice to the SEC Feb. 11, the day after her testimony, that his firm was no longer Stanford’s counsel.

He followed that up with a Feb. 12 fax to Kevin Edmundson, the assistant regional director in the SEC’s Forth Worth office, and left a voice mail message for him the next evening.

Finally, Sjoblom typed a note on his BlackBerry to Edmundson a little after 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 14. It read: “Kevin, this will advise the SEC, and confirm my voice message last evening, that I disaffirm all prior oral and written representations made by me and my associates ... to the SEC staff regarding Stanford Financial Group and its affiliates.”

Three days later, the SEC swung into action, charging the Stanford officials with what Rose Romero, regional director of the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office, called a “fraud of shocking magnitude that has spread its tentacles throughout the world.”

Meanwhile
Mississippians held $391M at Stanford
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20090220/BIZ/90220024/1001/news
<snip>
Stanford Financial manages nearly $391 million in assets for Mississippians, according to a release by the Secretary of State’s Office.

According to documents acquired through a subpoena issued by the Office of the Mississippi Secretary of State to Stanford Financial, 4,524 Mississippians have accounts with the organization in our State, with assets totaling $390,939,148.77.

Initial records obtained by Stanford Group show one-hundred forty-seven (147) Mississippians have accounts invested in Certificates of Deposit (CD’s) with Stanford Financial, in the amount of $33,577,263.82.

Florida and Stanford
http://blogs.trb.com/sports/custom/business/blog/2009/02/stanford_financials_local_spon.html

Stanford Watch
http://blogs.chron.com/stanford/
-------------
What are you finding re Stanford and 'red states'?
Looks like Hannity convinced way more of them than anywhere else?

add

[annabanana]

27. Bounce throught Sunday. . . n/t

:bounce:

[originalpckelly]

28. Dayum.

:P

Bounce much? :P

[annabanana]

29. (every chance I get). . . . .n/t

[annabanana]

30. kickers. . . .. . n/t