Financier and cricket mogul Allen Stanford was found guilty by a US jury of a $7 billion Ponzi scheme Tuesday, closing the book on the flamboyant ex-tycoon’s stunning fall from grace. The verdict will bring some satisfaction — but likely little financial relief — to 30,000 investors from more than 100 countries who were bilked by bogus investments with Stanford International Bank.
Investigators could not find 92 percent of the $8 billion the bank said it had in assets and cash reserves. Stanford, 61, has spent the past three years in jail after being deemed a flight risk. He may never taste freedom again. Jurors found the mustachioed Texan guilty of 13 of 14 counts of fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Each count carries a maximum sentence of five to 20 years in jail.
Even if a judge decides Stanford should receive concurrent sentences on the 13 counts at an upcoming hearing, he will likely still face 20 years in federal prison. Stanford remained stoic as the guilty verdicts were read, but his elderly mother, two adult daughters and a family friend dropped their heads into their hands in dismay. His lawyers told reporters the verdict was a “disappointment” and vowed to appeal. Prosecution attorneys left the courtroom quickly, and were not immediately available for comment. Cassie Wilkinson, one of Stanford’s victims, said she had waited at length for this outcome.
“We were taken advantage of not just by Allen, but by a whole band of crooks,” she said. “It’s great to know there were 12 jurors who felt the same way.” The only non-guilty verdict was returned on Count 2, in which Stanford was charged with wire fraud for allegedly purchasing $9,000 tickets to the Super Bowl annual American football championship game for Antiguan bank regulator Leroy King. Badly beaten in a jailhouse brawl, Stanford was temporarily declared unfit for trial after he became addicted to painkillers while also on antidepressants. He tried to have his case completely dismissed after claiming that the beating and drugs destroyed his memory, but the judge denied the request. Defense attorneys at trial tried to shift the blame to former chief financial officer James Davis, who they accused of perpetrating the entire fraud while Stanford naively placed his trust in his former college roommate.
