HOUSTON- The jury that convicted former Texas tycoon R Allen Stanford of operating a massive Ponzi scheme found yesterday that there is sufficient evidence that US$330 million in frozen foreign bank accounts he controlled money he stole from investors, clearing the way for United States authorities to go after the funds. The decision in the criminal forfeiture case followed Stanford's conviction Tuesday on 13 of 14 fraud-related counts for bilking investors out of more than US$7 billion through the sale of certificates of deposit, or CDs, from his bank on the Caribbean island nation of Antigua.
Yesterday's decision doesn't guarantee that US authorities will get the money, as liquidators appointed by an Antiguan court are also vying for control of many of the same accounts. Authorities say it could take years to actually get the money because each request must be evaluated by the countries where the frozen accounts are located, including Switzerland, Britain and Canada.
A US postal inspector testified that he traced US$2.5 million in investor money to two accounts controlled by one of the financier's girlfriends, including money that had been moved from an account dubbed "Baby Mama Trust." Stanford, who is going through a divorce, fathered children by several girlfriends, whom authorities called his "outside wives."
US District Judge David Hittner also set a June 14 sentencing date for Stanford on the criminal convictions. Stanford has been locked up since 2009, and while the most serious charges carry prison terms of up to 20 years, Hittner could send the 61-year-old Stanford to prison for life by ordering his sentences to run consecutively.
Stanford will remain incarcerated as he awaits sentencing. He did not testify in his own defence. (AP)
