R. Allen Stanford (no surprise here)

[Demosthenes]

• FEBRUARY 17, 2009, 12:25 P.M. ET
SEC Charges Stanford
•
By SIOBHAN HUGHES
WASHINGTON -- The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday filed civil charges against financier R. Allen Stanford, alleging he orchestrated a multi-billion dollar scheme centering on an $8 billion certificate of deposit program.
Reuters
The SEC said R. Allen Stanford "perpetrated a massive fraud based on false promises and fabricated historical return data to prey on investors."
Federal regulators said the wealthy financier promised improbable and unsubstantiated high interest rates that were supposedly earned through a unique investment strategy that purportedly allowed the bank to achieve double-digit returns on its investments for the past 15 years.
"As we allege in our complaint, Stanford and the close circle of family and friends with whom he runs his businesses perpetrated a massive fraud based on false promises and fabricated historical return data to prey on investors," SEC enforcement director Linda Thomsen said in a statement. "We are moving quickly and decisively in this enforcement action to stop this fraudulent conduct and preserve assets for investors."
It marks the second time in as many months that regulators have stepped in to allege a multi-billion fraud that promised investors unrealistically high returns. It was only in December that the SEC and criminal authorities charged Bernard L. Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, with leading a $50 billion swindle.

[Famspear]

The case is:

Securities and Exchange Commission, Plaintiff
v.
Stanford International Bank Ltd
Stanford Group Company
Stanford Capital Management LLC
R Allen Stanford
James M Davis
Laura Pendergest-Holt,
Defendants

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Dallas)
case no. 3:09-cv-00298-L
Judge Sam A Lindsay

The Court has appointed Ralph S. Janvey as Receiver.

[absdes96]

Oh...Good Morning!

Stories like these are going to pouring down soon, aren't they?

It seems the definition of Ponzi or Pyramid scheme will be extended well beyond what we have typically associated it with for the last 30 years.