Stanford in court on fraud charges
US billionaire appears in leg chains in a Texan court on fraud and obstruction charges.
Three other executives from his now closed Houston-based Stanford Financial Group, Laura Pendergest-Holt, Gilberto Lopez and Mark Kuhrt, are also set to be arraigned and to enter pleas on Thursday.
‘Ponzi scheme’ claim
The billionaire and his former executives are accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission of orchestrating a massive fraud by misusing most of the $7 billion they advised clients to invest in certificates of deposit (CDs) from Stanford International Bank, based on Antigua.
US authorities allege in the indictment that the firm would give money to some investors “to perpetuate the false appearance that [Stanford’s business] was financially sound” in a massive Ponzi scheme.
The charges related to an alleged scam dating back to September 1999 which continued until about February 17 this year, when Stanford’s banking empire collapsed.
A grand jury in Houston, Texas has been investigating Stanford Financial Group, whose headquarters in the city were raided in February by federal authorities when the sprawling financial empire collapsed.
The company’s assets were also frozen, along with the flamboyant cricket mogul’s personal accounts.
Antigua arrest
Meanwhile authorities in Antigua said on Thursday that King faces US charges including wire fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to obstruct an investigation by the SEC.
Prosecutors said that, as administrator of Antigua and Barbuda’s Financial
Services Regulatory Commission, King should have caught the fraud.
He is accused of accepting more than $100,000 in bribes to ignore alleged
irregularities.
He was fired by the Antigua and Barbuda’s government on Tuesday, and Justin Simon, the attorney general, said that an official request from the US is
pending for his extradition.
Stanford owned several businesses in Antigua, including a newspaper, two restaurants, a development company and the Stanford cricket grounds.