Emily Chan
They also suspected Stanford of making deals with Mexican drug cartels. However, charges were not brought against him until 2009.
Stanford maintained that he was innocent and his businesses were legitimate. He insisted that he was being framed and was a scapegoat of the SEC after their mishandling of the Madoff case, the largest financial fraud of all time.
A federal jury in Houston disagreed, and he was convicted in 2012 on 13 felony counts. He is currently serving a 110-year sentence at a high-security prison in Florida.
He was also ordered to forfeit about $5.9 billion, which would be paid back to his 18,000 investors. However, the victims still haven’t received the money they are owed since the process of settling lawsuits is slow going.
Stanford’s downfall was a shock to the financial world. Not only was his fraudulent activity a huge blow to his investors, but it also destroyed Antigua’s economy. The island of Antigua depended on Stanford’s empire for jobs.
He had developed much of the land there and employed many people. The collapse of the Stanford Financial Group led to the loss of thousands of jobs, and businesses that relied on the company’s patronage were forced to close down.
Stanford is still trying to clear his name. He has petitioned the court from prison several times. In his most recent petition, he demanded that the FBI director during his prosecution be questioned over alleged mishandling of evidence.
