Alec Wilkinson writes in the March 9, 2009 New Yorker about Allen Stanford, against whom the Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges on February 17 for a fraud involving $8 billion worth of certificates of deposit. No criminal charges have yet been filed.Stanford surrendered to federal agents a week or so ago in Fredericksburg, where he was evidently staying with relatives of his girlfriend.
Wilkinson uses, as the hook for his story, Stanford's connections to Antigua and Barbuda, where he bought himself considerable influence in the government (and where it sounds like some or all of his banking operations were based).
In particular, Wilkinson delves into Stanford's passion for cricket, including his offering a $20 million pot for a high stakes match between the English national team and a team of West Indian all stars. He includes a description of his conversation with Sir Garfield Sobers, who was "perhaps the best all-around cricket player ever," as the two of them watched the England vs. West Indies match.
The description of Stanford's fraud: "Stanford told people buying his CD's that their money would be primarily invested in liquid assets ..., that a committee of more than twenty analysts would keep track of the portfolio ..., and that the portfolio was subject to a yearly review by an Antiguan regulator." The reality: The money was invested in illiquid assets including real estate and private equity, the analysts only monitored 10% of the investments, and there were no audits by an Antiguan regulator.
123. Wilkinson says that Stanford claims a relationship to Leland Stanford; the university not only denies the relationship but has also filed a trademark infringement suit against Stanford's company. Also, Stanford appears to have fictionalized a football scholarship at Baylor (for which the school has no records). These stories are bizarre - is there a congenital lying disease going on?
