Former Billionaire 'Sir' Allen Stanford Appointed Public Defender
Financier has "nothing…down to his socks and underwear," recused lawyer says.
Sept. 15, 2009— -- Flamboyant former billionaire financier 'Sir' Allen Stanford has been ordered a public defender in his $7 billion fraud case because he has no money for an attorney.
"The SEC and the receiver in Dallas took everything from him, not just what they claim was tied to the fraud…everything that he had down to his socks and underwear," lawyer Dick DeGuerin, who was released from Stanford's case this morning, told ABCNews.com.
DeGuerin said the problem was not only that he's received "not a penny" from Stanford, a former jetsetter who traveled to his homes around the world by private jet, but that the confidence they once had in one another was gone.
"It's all the interference from other [attorneys] that destroyed my relationship with him, and it's irreparable," DeGuerin told ABC News.
Stanford, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit, attended the court hearing before U.S. District Judge David Hittner and met with DeGuerin for two hours beforehand – their first face-to-face meeting since July 30. He was recently released from a Texas hospital and returned to the Joe Corley Detention Facility in Conroe, TX after being admitted for a rapid heartbeat of 300 beats per minutes.
Allegations of Defrauding Investors
Stanford is charged with fraud, conspiracy and obstruction in a 21 count indictment handed down by the Department of Justice. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 250 years. Stanford surrendered to the FBI in Virginia in June and has pled not guilty to the charges.
Authorities say Stanford and his alleged co-conspirators engaged in a scheme to defraud investors who purchased approximately $7 billion of CDs from the Stanford International Bank, an off-shore entity based in Antigua. Stanford and his co-defendants are accused of misusing and misappropriating most of their investment assets.
Alleged Ponzi Scheme
The indictment alleges that Stanford and his associates falsely claimed that the bank's assets had grown from $1.2 billion in 2001 to $8.5 billion by December 2008. The bank also allegedly made thousands of dollars in bribes to the former head of Antigua's Financial Services Authority to ensure the bank was not audited.
The Securities and Exchange Commission previously filed a civil complaint against alleging Stanford ran a fraud promising investors impossible returns, much like Bernard Madoff's $65 billion alleged Ponzi scheme.
Stanford Denies Charges to ABC News
In April, Stanford told ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross in an exclusive interview that he expected to be indicted soon, but denied that he had run any sort of Ponzi scheme.
"I would die and go to hell if it's a Ponzi scheme," Stanford said in reaction to the civil allegations from the SEC that he bilked thousands of customers in a scheme involving "self-styled certificates of deposits" with "improbable" rates of return.
"Baloney. Baloney," Stanford told ABC News. "It's not a Ponzi scheme . If it was a Ponzi scheme, why are they finding billions and billions of dollars all over the place?"
In August, Stanford's former chief financial officer James Davis pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail, wire and securities fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to obstruct a SEC investigation, in relation to the alleged Ponzi scheme. Davis faces up to 30 years in prison when he's sentenced Nov. 20, although his attorney David Finn told the AP the sentencing may be delayed as Davis continues to help prosecutors. Finn said Davis has been cooperating for the last six months and has a deal with the Justice Department for a possible reduced sentence.
Davis' plea agreement brought forth bizarre new details about the case, including the allegation that Stanford entered into a "blood oath" with Antiguan bank officials.
The plea agreement, entered into court Thursday, alleges that Stanford and Leroy King, the former administrator and CEO of Antigua's Financial Services Authority, participated in the brotherhood ceremony together with another employees of the Financial Services Regulatory Commission.
"This brotherhood oath was undertaken in order to extract an agreement from both King and the other FSRC employee that they, in exchange for regular cash bribe payments by Stanford to King and the other FSRC employee, would ensure that the Antiguan bank regulators would not 'kill the business' of SIBL," the agreement reads. It also said that Sanford's alleged fraud dates back to 1990.
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Stanford is charged with fraud, conspiracy and obstruction in a 21 count indictment handed down by the Department of Justice. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 250 years. Stanford surrendered to the FBI in Virginia in June and has pled not guilty to the charges.
Authorities say Stanford and his alleged co-conspirators engaged in a scheme to defraud investors who purchased approximately $7 billion of CDs from the Stanford International Bank, an off-shore entity based in Antigua. Stanford and his co-defendants are accused of misusing and misappropriating most of their investment assets.
Alleged Ponzi Scheme
The indictment alleges that Stanford and his associates falsely claimed that the bank's assets had grown from $1.2 billion in 2001 to $8.5 billion by December 2008. The bank also allegedly made thousands of dollars in bribes to the former head of Antigua's Financial Services Authority to ensure the bank was not audited.
The Securities and Exchange Commission previously filed a civil complaint against alleging Stanford ran a fraud promising investors impossible returns, much like Bernard Madoff's $65 billion alleged Ponzi scheme.
Stanford Denies Charges to ABC News
In April, Stanford told ABC News Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross in an exclusive interview that he expected to be indicted soon, but denied that he had run any sort of Ponzi scheme.
"I would die and go to hell if it's a Ponzi scheme," Stanford said in reaction to the civil allegations from the SEC that he bilked thousands of customers in a scheme involving "self-styled certificates of deposits" with "improbable" rates of return.
"Baloney. Baloney," Stanford told ABC News. "It's not a Ponzi scheme . If it was a Ponzi scheme, why are they finding billions and billions of dollars all over the place?"
In August, Stanford's former chief financial officer James Davis pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail, wire and securities fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to obstruct a SEC investigation, in relation to the alleged Ponzi scheme. Davis faces up to 30 years in prison when he's sentenced Nov. 20, although his attorney David Finn told the AP the sentencing may be delayed as Davis continues to help prosecutors. Finn said Davis has been cooperating for the last six months and has a deal with the Justice Department for a possible reduced sentence.
Davis' plea agreement brought forth bizarre new details about the case, including the allegation that Stanford entered into a "blood oath" with Antiguan bank officials.
The plea agreement, entered into court Thursday, alleges that Stanford and Leroy King, the former administrator and CEO of Antigua's Financial Services Authority, participated in the brotherhood ceremony together with another employees of the Financial Services Regulatory Commission.
"This brotherhood oath was undertaken in order to extract an agreement from both King and the other FSRC employee that they, in exchange for regular cash bribe payments by Stanford to King and the other FSRC employee, would ensure that the Antiguan bank regulators would not 'kill the business' of SIBL," the agreement reads. It also said that Sanford's alleged fraud dates back to 1990.
Click Here for the Blotter Homepage.
In August, Stanford's former chief financial officer James Davis pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail, wire and securities fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to obstruct a SEC investigation, in relation to the alleged Ponzi scheme. Davis faces up to 30 years in prison when he's sentenced Nov. 20, although his attorney David Finn told the AP the sentencing may be delayed as Davis continues to help prosecutors. Finn said Davis has been cooperating for the last six months and has a deal with the Justice Department for a possible reduced sentence.
Davis' plea agreement brought forth bizarre new details about the case, including the allegation that Stanford entered into a "blood oath" with Antiguan bank officials.
The plea agreement, entered into court Thursday, alleges that Stanford and Leroy King, the former administrator and CEO of Antigua's Financial Services Authority, participated in the brotherhood ceremony together with another employees of the Financial Services Regulatory Commission.
"This brotherhood oath was undertaken in order to extract an agreement from both King and the other FSRC employee that they, in exchange for regular cash bribe payments by Stanford to King and the other FSRC employee, would ensure that the Antiguan bank regulators would not 'kill the business' of SIBL," the agreement reads. It also said that Sanford's alleged fraud dates back to 1990.