Stanford Points Fingers in Fraud Case

Stanford Points Fingers in Fraud Case - 4/21/2009

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HEADLINES \| SETTLEMENTS AND DISMISSALS \| COURT FILINGS LINKS TO OTHER NEWS \| NEWS ARCHIVE	HEADLINES ARCHIVED SETTLEMENTS AND DISMISSALS ARCHIVED

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Stanford Points Fingers in Fraud Case
Clifford Krauss

International Herald Tribune. April 21, 2009
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EXCERPT: R. Allen Stanford, the Texas financier accused of defrauding tens of thousands of bank depositors, said on Monday that he was not a thief. He denied that his operation was a Ponzi scheme and suggested that if any depositor money had been lost, it was largely a result of “Gestapo tactics” used by the government. “I don’t think there is any money missing,” Mr. Stanford said. “There never was a Ponzi scheme, and there never was an attempt to defraud anybody.” The government has said as much as $6 billion is missing. In an interview at his lawyer’s office in Houston, a high-strung, emotional Mr. Stanford offered various theories about the problems that have engulfed his Stanford Financial Group and Stanford International Bank. He allowed that some of the assets held by his organization on behalf of clients might have declined in value. As explanation, he cited the economic crisis and actions the government had taken against him in recent months. But in another part of the interview, Mr. Stanford suggested that if any fraud had been committed, James M. Davis, his former chief financial officer, was to blame. “The investment and risk committee reported to Jim Davis, not to me,” he said. “The Stanford International Bank quarterly report was produced in Tupelo, Miss., under Davis’s direction and signed off by him. I trusted his integrity.” Mr. Davis is cooperating with the government, and it seems increasingly likely he and Mr. Stanford will square off in court. Through his lawyer, Mr. Davis has characterized himself publicly as little more than a dupe. “Stanford told my client what the quarterly numbers for the firm had to be,” said Mr. Davis’s lawyer, David Finn. “He used Davis. And if Davis didn’t go along with it, he said he could easily find someone else who would.”

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