HOUSTON, (Reuters) – Texas financier Allen Stanford will spend another night in a Texas jail after he pleaded not guilty yesterday to 21 criminal charges that he ran a $7 billion Ponzi scheme.
Texas billionaire Allen Stanford arrives at the Federal courthouse in Houston, in the custody of US marshalls, June 25, 2009.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Frances Stacy set Stanford’s bond at $500,000 with a $100,000 cash deposit. But Judge Stacy stayed her order until 4:30 p.m. CDT today (2130 GMT) after the U.S. Justice Department said it plans to appeal, arguing that Stanford was likely to flee the country rather than face life in prison if convicted of the charges.
The once high-flying billionaire and sports promoter has been in federal custody since June 18, when he surrendered to the FBI in Virginia after a Houston grand jury indicted him on 21 counts of conspiracy, fraud and obstruction of justice.
“Not guilty, Your Honor,” said Stanford, 59, wearing an orange jump-suit and with his hands manacled in front of him.
Stanford is the second high-profile fraud case to shake public confidence in Wall Street and the U.S. financial regulatory system, after veteran financier Bernard Madoff pleaded guilty to a massive Ponzi scheme that could have cost investors as much as $65 billion.
Stanford, who once owned a fleet of 6 private aircraft, a luxury yacht and houses and castles stretching from Houston to the Caribbean, has spent a week in detention centers in Virginia and recently in the Montgomery County Jail in Conroe, about an hour’s drive north of Houston.
“The big fight is still ahead and I’m confident the world will see Stanford didn’t defraud anybody,” Stanford’s criminal attorney, Dick DeGuerin, told reporters outside the courthouse.
Stanford is taking the anti-anxiety drug Ativan after initially turning to alcohol to deal with the stress of the case, DeGuerin said in a filing.
Professional golfer Vijay Singh had offered to cosign Stanford’s bail bond but the court rejected the offer because Singh is not a U.S. citizen, DeGuerin said.
Fijian Singh had an endorsement deal with Stanford and sported a shirt and hat emblazoned with Stanford Financial Group’s eagle insignia when he was competing in last week’s U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in New York.
Dozens of Stanford’s family sat in the packed courtroom, including James Stanford, his father, and Andrea Stoelker, his girlfriend. “Hi Daddy,” his daughter said as Stanford entered the court room after a lunch recess. Stanford winked at her.
According to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Stanford, with the help of executives at his firm and a top Antigua and Barbuda financial regulator, ran a “massive Ponzi scheme” for over a decade that centered on certificates of deposit in his bank in Antigua.
Stanford says he is innocent of the charges and that his multinational business was legitimate until the SEC “disemboweled” it by filing civil charges, which led to the confiscation of all his assets by a court-appointed receiver.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner will decide today whether the court should keep Stanford in custody, after Justice Department attorneys argued that Stanford was a “serious flight risk.”
This is kind of sad, seeing Mr. Stanford in this jump-suite.
Talk what you want, but at the end of the day this man was responsible for giving west indian cricket a jump start as a result of his massive financial injections into the sport.
It was appalling to see the way he was dumped by some in the region(most particularly in Antigua) as they played judge and jury before his actual trial.
On the other hand, this picture shows the American Justice system at it’s best.
It matters not how “big” you are, or how “high you fly” in America, as you will be dragged before the courts to face your charges……………… no call to a President, Minister etc. will save you, you do the crime, you have your day in court.
Those small islands are going to pay a high price if he is found not guilty of the crimes the SEC claims he committed; he will now own country of Antigua. Where would they find the money to compensate him for the financial ruin their action would have cost him?
This is how mature democracies deal with law breakers. Guyana the land of bribes and corruption please take note.
Looking at the picture I feel no sympathy for this man, the destroyer of cricket as we know it and the way it was meant to be played in the West Indies. His baseball cricket with swiping and slugging is so inelegant that had he been around in the earlier days, we would have been deprived of a master strokesman like Frank Worrel. Stanford’s urge for almost instant gratification seemed to have also permeated his business practices. May he get what he deserves. Long live test cricket.
Borapoke Sir Allen Stanford did’nt invent 20/20 cricket.The English did to improve their team and to bring people through the turnstile.They accomplish one not the other.Know the facts sir know the facts,this guy help broke aaa west indies cricket if you ask me.
Guyana’s Sanfords are evading justice…. No crook who trived callously on other people’s hard earned resoiurces should go unpunished. Not so in Guyana, such people are called “the new breed of Guyanese entrepreneurs” .
Disturbed: He was the catalyst for 20/20 in the West Indies. I never said he invented 20/20. We can all add water to our wine but we only end up with more liquid. Unadulterated ripple.
Standford, you stick out like a sore thumb in that orange outfit.
standford is a great man.he was helping caribbean people.some people do not want caribbean people to get up.
Sad to see Sir Allen like this. He gave WI cricket such excitement and hope like no other has done recently. I wish him well with all his troubles.
Allen Stanford, or “Sir Allen” as he liked to be called, should have his day in court. obviously, he has impressed many in the Caribbean for his innovative approach to cricket and for his infusion of “cash” in the game.
but, let’s be realistic about his business practices…! Uncle Sam will not indict a man unless they have the ‘goods on him.’ so, let’s see what happen when Sir Allen stands before a jury of his peers! if, as he says, he’s innocent, he should have no fear–an “impartial” jury will decide…!
finally, long live cricket (20/20 or traditional matches) in the west indies …!
The yellow suit looks as it were tailor-made for him; and I though he was God??????? He had me fooled…….
he did fed a lot of mouths.
you people forgot that the USA was not always as it is today , it took them a long time to get where they are and i believe in time, guyana will get like that, but i guess that will be a sad time for some of you .