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Antigua Bank Hit by Fraud Charge Antigua bank hit by fraud charge Hundreds of depositors of the Bank of Antigua have been withdrawing their funds after bank owner Sir Allen Stanford was charged with fraud. BBC – 18/2/2009 Branches in Antigua, Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador had to cope with queues of anxious customers, reports said. The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank urged people not to Hundreds of people queued at Bank of panic, saying the bank had sufficient funds. It warned that Antigua branches a run on the bank would "precipitate the very situation that we are all trying to avoid". Sir Allen was charged with $8bn (£5.6bn) investment fraud by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. His whereabouts are unknown. A US judge froze the assets of Sir Allen and the other defendants as well as those of the Stanford Group, its Antigua-based subsidiary Stanford International Bank (SIB) and another subsidiary, investment advisor Stanford Capital Management. The Bank of Antigua is part of Sir Allen's global business interests but is separate from SIB. A finance ministry official told Antiguan radio: "Your savings are safe. Do not panic." At one branch in the Antigua capital St John's about 600 people queued, Reuters news agency said. A similar-sized crowd was seen at another branch near the airport. Queues of customers formed outside Bank of Antigua branches Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said on Tuesday that the charges against Sir Allen could have "catastrophic" consequences for the nation, but he also urged people not to panic. The Stanford group is the largest private employer in Antigua and Barbuda, covering financial, media and sporting franchises. In Colombia, the local arm of the Stanford Group stopped trading on the stock exchange. The SEC said on Tuesday that the fraud was "based on false promises and fabricated historical return data". The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) suspended sponsorship negotiations with Sir Allen following the fraud charges. The Stanford Group says it is worth more than $40bn, and Forbes magazine lists Sir Allen as the world's 605th richest man. Stanford bank in Antigua seized Caribbean regulators have taken over the Bank of Antigua, owned by the Stanford group, amid fraud accusations. BBC – 21/2/2009 The move comes after governments elsewhere, including in Peru, Venezuela, and Ecuador, suspended operations at banks owned by the group. Fraud charges have been filed against the Sir Allen Stanford stands accused by US financial US businessman authorities of involvement in an $8bn (£5.6bn) investment fraud. He was served civil papers on Thursday. The billionaire had been the single biggest private investor in Antigua. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Sir Allen of an alleged fraud "of shocking magnitude". However, he is not in custody and has not been charged with any criminal violations. Authorities in the US claim that Sir Allen attracted clients by promising unrealistic returns on investments. Customer accounts held by Stanford Financial Group were frozen until legal claims could be resolved, Reuters news agency reported the company's receiver as saying on Friday. "For the foreseeable future, customers cannot use their accounts to make payments because transfers out of these accounts are frozen until the receiver is able to verify there are no legal or equitable claims against those accounts," said Ralph Janvey, a Dallas lawyer responsible for recovering Stanford assets. Earlier in the day, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) ended all contractual links with the billionaire. The ECB had signed a multi-million dollar deal with the Texan to stage a series of Twenty20 cricket games and tournaments both in the Caribbean and in England. The England team will not take part in any future Stanford Super Series matches, and the Stanford-sponsored Quadrangular Twenty20 games planned for England in 2009 will not now take place. 'Unusual withdrawal' The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank says it took control of the Bank of Antigua to prevent a run on the bank after the SEC filed civil fraud charges against Sir Allen in the US. The bank was not named in the SEC's complaint. The central bank said it had taken the step after "an unusual and substantial withdrawal of funds". The move by Antigua regulators is aimed at maintaining stability and reassuring customers, correspondents say. Antigua's Financial Services Regulatory Commission has named a British firm, Vantis Business Recovery Services, as a receiver of Stanford International Bank and Stanford Trust Company, the Associated Press reports. In 2006 Sir Allen was knighted by Antigua and holds Antiguan citizenship. Joint Press Statement on Cabinet's Meeting with Mr. R. Allen Stanford http://www.antigua-barbuda.com/business_politics/stanford_statement.asp February 2003 At the request of Mr R Allen Stanford, a meeting was held on 6th February, 2003 between the Cabinet and senior representatives of the Stanford Financial Group. The two sides recalled with satisfaction the productive and mutually beneficial relationship that has existed between the Stanford Group and the people and Government of Antigua and Barbuda. The Cabinet expressed its deep appreciation, on behalf of Antigua and Barbuda, for the significant investments made by the Stanford Group in Antigua and Barbuda over the last few years totalling almost EC$160 million. They also noted with approval the large number of persons employed by the Stanford Group in the several phases of these investments. Mr Stanford formally advised Cabinet of his decision to relocate the administrative headquarters of the Caribbean Star airline from Antigua to St Kitts-Nevis. While regretting the necessity for this decision the Cabinet expressed its understanding of the importance to the Stanford Group of spreading its portfolio more broadly than in Antigua which, so far, has been the principal beneficiary of its Caribbean investments. Mr Stanford emphasised that while the administrative headquarters of Caribbean Star would be moved, the engineering department and flight operations of the airline would remain in Antigua. The Chairman of the Stanford Group also informed Cabinet of his proposal to create an investment fund of US$2 billion for development projects in the Caribbean. The Cabinet applauded this outstanding initiative by Mr Stanford and warmly welcomed his proposal particularly as, over the last five years, the Caribbean has been one of the regions of the world that has received the smallest amount of foreign direct investment. Mr. Stanford revealed that the Headquarters for the Investment Fund will be located in St. John's, Antigua. Mr. Stanford reiterated his confidence in Antigua and Barbuda and its people, and his team unveiled to the Cabinet plans to invest over EC$256 million in new development projects that would be executed immediately following the Cabinet's approval. Among the projects would be the establishment of a retail/entertainment village across from the airport terminal at a cost of EC$40 million, development on Maiden Island at a cost of $135 million, and the completion of an FBO to service private aircraft at a cost of approximately EC$7 million. The additional projects will bring the total amount invested at the V.C. Bird International Airport to $415 million. The Cabinet welcomed these new investments by the Stanford Group and expressed their appreciation for Mr Stanford's confidence in the people and government of Antigua and Barbuda. The Cabinet agreed to appoint a three-man Ministerial team to complete negotiations with a team from the Stanford Group on fast-track so that contracts could be settled expeditiously. The Cabinet also appointed a small group of Senior Officers from the Ministries of Finance, Agriculture, and the Development Control Authority to ensure that there are no bureaucratic delays to the various projects. The two sides agreed that the Prime Minister, Honourable Lester B. Bird, and Mr. R Allen Stanford would remain in regular contact throughout each stage of the negotiations and implementation of the projects to give them the highest possible oversight. Both the Cabinet and the Stanford Group expressed pleasure at the constructive and productive outcome of their meeting and described it as a landmark event in the continuing economic development of Antigua and Barbuda. Stanford investors sue Caribbean banks to recoup losses Investors caught up in the fall out from Allen Stanford's alleged $7bn (£4.45bn) "Ponzi" scheme are attempting to sue a number of Caribbean banks, the Caribbean financial regulator and the Antiguan government to recover money they argue is rightfully theirs. The Bank of Antigua was taken over by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and its assets redistributed Photo: REUTERS By James Quinn, US Business Editor, The Telegraph, 7:27PM GMT 17 Feb 2010 A small group of investors have filed a class-action lawsuit seeking compensation for the "unlawful seizure" of the Bank of Antigua. The Bank of Antigua was owned by Stanford Financial Group, and was the vehicle through which the investors bought what they believed to be high-yielding certificates of deposit, which US prosecutors claimed are at the root of the alleged fraud. Mr Stanford– he was stripped of his knighthood last year – was accused by US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of working with colleagues to orchestrate the widespread fraud last February, since which time criminal charges have also been levelled against him. The Bank of Antigua was taken over by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank – the regulator for eight islands in the region – shortly after the allegations against Mr Stanford came to light, and the Bank of Antigua's assets were then distributed among the EECB's five member banks, including Antigua Commercial Bank and Eastern Caribbean Financial Holdings. "The Bank of Antigua was, and remains, enormously valuable. All of that value rightfully belongs to Mr Stanford's victims," alleges lawyer Peter Morgenstern in the court filing.
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