SFO freezes £60m in Stanford probe
More than 100 million dollars (£60 million) of funds believed to be connected to cricket entrepreneur Sir Allen Stanford's alleged investment fraud have been seized in UK banks, it has been revealed.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said it had frozen the assets held by "certain London financial institutions" earlier this year after a request by the US Department of Justice.
The 59-year-old billionaire is currently on bail awaiting trial for the suspected seven billion dollar (£4.2 billion) investment fraud.
He is due to find out if he is to remain free ahead of the trial after prosecutors tried to revoke bail.
The SFO froze the funds in April after obtaining a restraining order that will see the cash held pending the outcome of the proceedings in the US.
There had been speculation that Stanford was poised to launch a UK arm of his global financial empire just months before he was charged with masterminding a massive ponzi scheme.
Stanford last week pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Three other executives at Stanford Financial Group - Laura Pendergest-Holt, Gilberto Lopez and Mark Kuhrt - have also been charged over the alleged fraud. All have denied the charges.
According to the criminal indictment, Stanford and his co-defendants concocted a scam in which investors were sold around seven billion dollars (£4.2 billion) worth of so-called certificates of deposits (CDs) after being lured by promises of high returns.
It is alleged that Stanford misrepresented to investors that their money was safe, falsely claiming that funds were being re-invested in liquid financial instruments and monitored by a team of 20-plus analysts.
- Post:
- del.icio.us
- Digg
- Netscape
- Newsvine
- Now Public
- Q&A
{ JOIN the CONVERSATION }
WRITE A COMMENT
Guidelines At A Glance
Below are some quick guidelines to note when posting comments on AOL.