HOUSTON, (Reuters) – Texas financier Allen
Stanford used lies and bribes to steal the hard-earned savings
of his customers, prosecutors said today.
The former billionaire is accused of selling certificates of
deposit from his bank in Antigua and using the money to finance
his lifestyle, in one of the biggest white collar cases since
Bernard Madoff.
“He told them lie, after lie, after lie,” prosecutor Gregg
Costa told the jury at the start of Stanford’s trial on criminal
fraud charges in federal court in Houston.
Stanford, 61, dressed in a grey suit and white shirt,
pleaded not guilty to a 14-count indictment. “I plead not guilty
to every count,” the former billionaire said in an emphatic
voice.
He rocked in his chair, listening intently as Costa laid out
the government’s case of a sprawling $7 billion Ponzi scheme
originating with Stanford International Bank in Antigua.
Stanford used it as “his own private piggy bank,” Costa said.
“Really, that is the perfect name for the bank, because the
bank was there to enrich Mr. Stanford.”
Stanford spent millions of dollars of investor funds on his
hobby of cricket, his private airplanes and a company that was
formed to take care of his yacht, the Sea Eagle, Costa said.
He bribed his accountant and a regulator in Antigua in an
effort to keep U.S. authorities at bay, Costa said.
Robert Scardino, one of Stanford’s lawyers, told the jury
that the Texas native was an astute businessman whose business
was ruined when the government seized it in 2009.
“Stanford was kind of an absentee CEO, a visionary,”
Scardino told jurors.
He argued that every dime investors put into CDs issued from
the Antigua bank was repaid over the course of 22 years.
“He paid every penny that was promised,” Scardino said.
“Never once failed, no evidence of a fraud.”
Stanford’s businesses and investments were all legitimate
until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil
charges in February 2009 and seized all of Stanford’s assets,
Scardino said.
Witnesses for the prosecution include former employees,
financial advisers who allegedly peddled certificates of deposit
for the bank and Stanford’s former chief financial officer,
James Davis, who is the only co-defendent who has pleaded guilty
to the scheme.
Stanford will take the stand to answer any questions the
prosecution has and talk about his charitable works on Antigua,
Scardino said.
The defense may also call accountants and other financial
experts who can attest to the accuracy of the bank’s documents,
Scardino said.
