Sir Allen Stanford has been served with court orders charging him with operating a multi-billion dollar investment fraud after federal investigators found the tycoon in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The billionaire had not been seen in public since the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched its enforcement action against him earlier this week.
As the SEC's case is a civil action, Sir Allen has not been arrested or placed in custody. However, the regulator has secured a court order freezing his assets and he is believed to have turned in his passport.
The Texas-born businessman faces allegations of running a fraud of "shocking magnitude". He is said to have used fabricated historical data and promises of double-digit returns in all markets to sell around $8 billion of so-called certificates of deposit through his company, the Stanford International Bank (SIB).
Last night, the BBC reported that authorities in Peru and Venezuela have taken actions against SIB and its parent group as panicked investors queue up to recover their money. Peru's securities regulator has suspended the Stanford Financial Group's operations for 30 days, while Venezuela said it would take control of the local SIB network.
No comments:
Post a Comment