Allen Stanford Convicted Of Defrauding Many In Louisiana

His victims include those who lost millions of dollars in Acadiana, Baton Rouge and other parts of Louisiana. Texas financier R. Allen Stanford has been found guilty of bilking customers out of millions of dollars.

As early as January, a judge ruled that Allen Stanford was not fit to stand trial.  He had been the victim of an assault in prison, and he had suffered a head injury.  He claimed at the time he could not remember much.  Stanford's lawyers then worked to claim that Stanford had not received his right to a speedy trial, and they tried to get him released from prison, but that was shot down.

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 Commision members. Vitter says he was doing this until victims of Stanford Group’s Ponzi scheme get an answer as to why their requests for coverage against their losses have not been heard yet.

It took Stanford three years to finally stand trial after being beaten heavily beaten by a fellow inmate in a Houston prison. The defense claimed that he couldn't properly defend himself due to a loss of memory. During those three years, he also became addicted to prescription anti-stress drugs. After a year of therapy, the US District Court claimed that he was fit to stand trial.

Yesterday Stanford was convicted 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 faces up to 230 years in prison.