Stanford Victims Sue Govt. Of Antigua & Barbuda
February 17, 2010
CaribWorldNews, DALLAS, TX, Weds. Feb. 17, 2010: The government of Antigua and Barbuda has been sued by victims of accused ponzi schemer, R. Allen Stanford.
Attorney Peter D. Morgenstern filed a class action lawsuit on Tuesday against Antigua and Barbuda, The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, the Antigua Commercial Bank, the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank Ltd., the Eastern Caribbean Financial Holdings Company Ltd., the National Commercial Bank (SVG) Ltd., and National Bank of Dominica Ltd.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for the `unlawful seizure` of the Bank of Antigua, a Stanford affiliate, according to court papers filed in U.S. District Court of Dallas, Texas.
The complaint alleges that the roughly 28,000 investors are entitled to the value of the Bank of Antigua when it was seized to provide some compensation since many lost their life savings to Stanford.
`Instead of acting as a legitimate central bank, the ECCB became a partner in crime with the government of Antigua and Barbuda when it seized the bank,` Morgenstern said in a statement. `The Bank of Antigua was, and remains, enormously valuable. All of that value rightfully belongs to Mr. Stanford`s victims.`
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, or ECCB, took over the Bank of Antigua in February 2009 in the wake of the U.S. fraud probe of the Stanford`s vast financial empire and redistributed its equity ownership.
Stanford and other executives of the now-defunct Houston-based Stanford Financial Group are accused of orchestrating a huge Ponzi scheme by advising clients to invest more than $7 billion in certificates of deposit from the Stanford International Bank on Antigua. Investors from 113 countries were promised huge returns and assured that their investments were safe.
But U.S. authorities say Stanford misused investors` money to pay for his lavish lifestyle and essentially ran a giant ponzi scheme.
Stanford and three other executives have so far pleaded not guilty to charges they ran a Ponzi scheme. Another former executive, James M. Davis, pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors. Stanford remains jailed in Houston.
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