110 Years In Jail For Man Who Scammed Acadiana Investors

A man who gained the trust of hundreds of investorshas been sentenced to 110 years in prison for being the creator of one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history.  Allen Stanford's victims including people in Acadiana, Baton Rouge, other parts of Louisiana and Texas watched millions of their dollars just disappear.  It meant financial ruin for many clients.

Both Congressman Charles Boustany and Senator David Vitter even got involved in the case on behalf of the victims. Lafayette Congressman Charles Boustany at one point demanded the Securities and Exchange Commission act to help victims of Stanford’s Ponzi scheme. Boustany introduced the Ponzi Scheme Victim’s Tax Relief Act to try help victims who lost money in a Ponzi scheme to recoup the losses by declaring them as net operating losses during previous tax years and collecting refunds from those tax years.

Senator David Vitter tried to block the nominations of two Securities and Exchange Commission members until victims of Stanford Group’s Ponzi scheme get an answer as to why their requests for coverage against their losses had not been heard.

Stanford was convicted in March on 13 out of 14 counts including fraud, conspiracy obstruction and money laundering. The entire total of money involved with the ponzi scheme is around $7 billion. Federal prosecutors say Stanford worked to steal investor money by using an offshore account in the Caribbean. He received 110 years in prison by U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston today.