Stanford receivers reach agreement

ST JOHN’S—The battle between receivers in the United States and Antigua over the dispersal of Allen Stanford’s frozen assets has seemingly reached a truce. Officials liquidating Allen Stanford’s offshore bank said they have reached a settlement that would return a substantial portion of the US$300 million in frozen assets to the victims of Stanford’s fraud, a court filing showed.

Stanford was sentenced in June to 110 years in prison for bilking investors with fraudulent certificates of deposit issued by Stanford International Bank in Antigua. Ever since the Ponzi scheme was uncovered, US and international authorities, including those in Antigua and the United Kingdom, have been fighting for control of Stanford’s assets outside of the United States.

The agreement between US and Antiguan officials provides for the distribution of almost 90 per cent of the frozen assets from the UK, Canada, and Switzerland, and will become effective after it has been approved by the respective courts in those countries.