Stanford must forfeit all funds in seized accounts

A United States federal jury decided on Thursday that Texas tycoon Allen Stanford, who was convicted this week of masterminding a massive US$7 billion Ponzi scheme, must forfeit all funds seized by the US government, including money deposited in his Antigua investment bank.



In their second day of deliberations in the forfeiture proceeding, the jury of eight men and four women found that the money constituted proceeds of the scheme.



The jury had begun deliberating less than three hours after they found Stanford guilty on 13 of 14 criminal counts.



They granted total forfeiture on 29 accounts prosecutors said are worth US$330 million.



As a result, the court ordered Stanford, 61, to forfeit money deposited in 29 bank accounts in Antigua, London, Zurich, Geneva, among other places, which prosecutors said was the product of criminal activity.



“Proceeds remain proceeds,” Andrew Warren, a federal prosecutor, told the jury in a closing statement. “It’s (certificate of deposit) money, money that should be forfeited.”



Ali Fazel, one of Stanford’s lawyers, said tersely after the forfeiture verdict: “We won’t say it’s what we expected.”



US prosecutors said Stanford had defrauded tens of thousands of investors who bought certificates of deposit from his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank (SIB).



After a six-week trial, the jury on Tuesday convicted Stanford on four counts of wire fraud and five counts of mail fraud, each of which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison.



In addition, Stanford was convicted of conspiracy and obstructing a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probe.



He was found not guilty of one wire fraud count.



US District Judge David Hittner, who presided over the six-week trial, has set June 14 for the Texan’s sentencing.



CMC