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FBI seeks victims of Stanford Financial Group in investigation of $8 billion massive Ponzi scheme fraud through the sale of high-yield certificates of deposit through Allen Stanford's Antigua-based Stanford International Bank.

By Justin Blum

March 9, 2009 (Bloomberg) -- The FBI is trying to identify “victims” of Stanford Financial Group and its affiliated companies as part of an investigation into an alleged $8 billion fraud.

The Houston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation today asked investors to provide investigators with the amount of their losses and recent statements.

“The FBI is seeking to gather additional information from investors in order to identify victims and determine the extent of any potential fraud,” the FBI said in a statement today.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Texas financier R. Allen Stanford, two associates and three affiliated companies on Feb. 17, accusing them of orchestrating an $8 billion fraud through the sale of high-yield certificates of deposit through Antigua-based Stanford International Bank. The SEC called the alleged fraud a “massive Ponzi scheme.”

FBI offices around the country are fielding calls from people who may be victims, said Michael E. Anderson, assistant special agent in charge of the bureau’s Houston office, in a telephone interview. The FBI, which doesn’t have a list of Stanford investors, wanted to provide a central location to contact, said Anderson, who is overseeing the investigation.

Identifying victims would “support a criminal prosecution,” Anderson said.

Responses Expected

If investigators determine that those who provide information were victimized by Houston-based Stanford, “the FBI will be in touch with you,” the FBI’s statement said. “Due to the expected number of responses, it may be several weeks before you are contacted.”

The Internal Revenue Service and Postal Inspection Service also are investigating Stanford.

A U.S. judge in Dallas froze Stanford’s corporate and personal assets. Stanford hasn’t been charged with any criminal activity.

In a statement filed March 2, Dallas lawyer Charles Meadows, who represents Stanford in the asset-freeze matter, said the SEC’s allegations that Stanford engaged in a Ponzi scheme are “false, and the SEC has presented no evidence of any such Ponzi scheme.” Calls to Meadows seeking comment on today’s FBI announcement weren’t immediately returned.

Also today, Stanford’s court-appointed receiver, Ralph Janvey, a Dallas lawyer, posted instructions on his Web site explaining how certain investors can get access to accounts that were frozen.

http://www.stanfordfinancialreceivershi ... ndex.shtml

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