Massive ongoing fraud / Fraude em massa/ Fraude financiero masivo

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U.S. Accuses Texas Financial Firm of $8 Billion Fraud

Stopping what it called a “massive ongoing fraud,” the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday accused Robert Allen Stanford, the chief of the Stanford Financial Group, of fraud in the sale of about $8 billion of high-yielding certificates of deposit held in the firm’s bank in Antigua. Also named in the suit were two other executives and some affiliates of the financial group.

The S.E.C. accused Mr. Stanford and two associates — James M. Davis, a director and chief financial officer of Stanford Group and the Antigua-based bank affiliate, and Laura Pendergest-Holt, the chief investment officer of both organizations — with misrepresenting the safety and liquidity of the uninsured CDs.

The CDs were sold by Stanford International Bank through the firm’s registered broker-dealer and investment adviser, which are in Houston. Both the bank, which claims $8.5 billion in assets and 30,000 clients in 131 countries, and the brokerage unit, which operates about 30 offices in the United States, were named in the S.E.C. suit. Stanford Financial asserts that it advises about $50 billion in assets.

Shortly after 10 a.m. Central time, about 40 police officers and other law enforcement officials simultaneously entered Stanford Group’s two office buildings in Houston.

In its complaint, the S.E.C. said it could not account for the $8 billion in assets that were housed in the Antigua bank after issuing subpoenas for bank records and to various witnesses. Most witnesses, including Mr. Stanford, Mr. Davis, and the Antigua-based bank’s president, failed to appear to testify nor did they produce documents shedding light on the assets.

Ms. Pendergest-Holt said in testimony to the S.E.C. that she could not account for the assets, asserting that Mr. Stanford and Mr. Davis were the only ones with access to the bank’s assets.

In the complaint, the S.E.C. called “improbable, if not impossible” claims by the offshore bank that it paid “significantly” higher returns on its CDs because of the high quality of its investments.

The S.E.C. accused the bank and its affiliates of falsely stating in marketing materials that client funds were placed in liquid financial instruments, when in fact they were invested in private equity funds and real estate. On Nov. 28, Stanford International Bank quoted a rate of 5.375 percent on a $100,000 three-year CD, compared with rates of less than 3.2 percent at American banks. The bank recently has offered rates of more than 10 percent on five-year CDs, the filing stated.

The S.E.C. has come under fire in Congress and the media for ignoring repeated warnings over a period of years about the Bernard L. Madoff, who is accused of running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. While investigators have been looking at Mr. Stanford and his financial empire’s activities for many months, the scrutiny into the too-good-to-be-true returns on the CDs increased substantially after the Madoff case.

Additionally, the S.E.C. accused Stanford Capital Management, another Houston-based investment advisory unit, of inflating the performance of its $1.2 billion-asset Stanford Allocation Strategy mutual fund in promoting it to prospective investors.

The complaint also accused the offshore banking unit and the Houston-based broker dealer of violating provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940 in failing to register as an investment company.

A SEC, Securities Exchange Comission, acusa o grupo financeiro texano Stanford Financial Group de praticar fraudes em massa, com falsas informações a respeito da espécie e qualidade dos títulos oferecidos aos clientes, certificados de depósito mantidos em Antigua, um paraíso fiscal no Caribe. O valor pode chegar a US$ 8 bilhões. Os títulos prometiam altos retornos aos investidores, muito acima dos oferecidos pelos demais bancos americanos.

Robert Allen Stanford é o multimilionário dono do grupo, na foto acima. A diretora de investimentos do grupo SFG, Laura Pendengerst-Holt, e o diretor-financeiro do SIB, james Davis, são também acusados.

Os CDs, Certificados de Depósito, eram vendidos pelo Banco Stanford International (BSI) através de uma corretora do grupo, Stanford Capital Management, em Houston, Texas, cujos escritórios foram visitados por 40 policiais e outros agentes federais. Os ativos estão congelados por ordem da Justiça.

O grupo tem 30 mil clientes em 131 países, com assessoria a depósitos estimados em US$ 50 bilhões.

Quem será o próximo da interminável fila???

EEUU detiene a un financiero acusado de un fraude 'masivo' de más de 6.000 millones.

Un nuevo escándalo multimillonario sacude el mundo financiero. El millonario estadounidense Robert Allen Stanford ha sido acusado de haber realizado un fraude de alrededor de 8.000 millones de dólares (más de 6.000 millones de euros), según el regulador financiero del país, la SEC.

El fraude consistía en la venta de certificados de depósitos a los inversores, a los que se prometía rendimientos "inverosímiles", según la SEC.

La acusación está dirigida ahora contra Stanford y tres de sus compañías -Stanford International Bank (SIB), domiciliada en el paraíso fiscal de la isla de Antigua, la firma de corretaje Stanford Group Company (SGC), y la entidad asesora de inversiones Stanford Capital Management.

Asimismo, la SEC también dirige sus acusaciones contra el director financiero de SIB, James Davis, así como contra Laura Pendergest-Holt, responsable de inversiones de Stanford Financial Group (SFG).

El juez Reed O'Connor cursó la orden para la congelación temporal de los activos de los acusados y designó un administrador para gestionar los mismos.

"Stanford y el círculo íntimo de familiares y amigos que gestionaban los negocios perpetraron un fraude masivo a partir de falsas promesas y datos históricos de rendimientos inventados para cazar inversores", dijo la responsable de supervisión de la SEC, Linda Chatman Thomsen.

A este respecto, la demanda de la SEC alega que a través de una red de asesores financieros de SGC, SIB vendió a los inversores alrededor de 8.000 millones de dólares de los llamados 'certificados de depósito' prometiéndoles unos altos tipos de interés "improbables y no verificables".