Dismay as official Stanford Investors Committee file lawsuit against St Jude's children's cancer hospital charity
February 16, 2011
On this day today, the second anniversary of the civil action by the SEC against the Stanford Financial Group,
wholly owned by Allen Stanford awaiting trial on 23 counts of fraud in Texas, allegedly too incompetent to
stand trial after being beaten-up in prison and fed a cocktail of anti-depressants. What have we learned?
Firstly Allen Stanford is apparently competent enough today to file a lawsuit against the US prosecutors, the
FBI and SEC, accusing them of "abusive law enforcement" and seeking $7.2bn in damages. Since he was declared
indigenous after Lloyds of London contested their officer's insurance policy, following the hiring and firing
of a carousel of well tailored attorneys, he is now represented by two public defenders. It begs the question
who is paying for his lawsuit, and how did he miraculously recover well enough to instruct them.
Now he has recovered, please let the criminal trial begin, and that $7.2bn would also be the same amount the
innocent victims of the alleged Stanford fraud have lost. If he's so innocent, where's the money?
On this day today, the Statute of Limitations for any lawsuits in connection with the Stanford case also
expired.
Three months ago we woke up to the fact the so-called (SIC) Stanford Investors Committee was going to do
nothing very much to help us, so we found a new attorney and launched our own campaign to file FTCA claims
against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), for their negligence in not closing down Stanford sooner.
They knew he was a fraud 13 years ago. Some of the SEC were merely asleep on the job, while others were caught
with their pants down watching porn on their computers. The campaign has been a resounding success, and several
thousand Stanford investors have now filed claims.
On this day today, we also anticipated a flood of claims from the receiver and the (SIC) Stanford Investors
Committee, who have reportedly been toiling away tirelessly for several months in total secrecy, all in our
best interests.
We anticipated a plethora of lawsuits against, amongst others;
BDO Seidman, one of the worlds largest accounting firms, who audited Stanford Group Company, and who fudged
their accounts four years running to hide from SIPC it was insolvent and only being supported by tainted funds
from SIB in Antigua.
FINRA, who twice fined Stanford for misleading investors, a mere slap on the wrist, but despite all the red
flags, could see no further.
The State of Florida, who through their Dept of Banking and Finance granted the newly formed (in 1998) Stanford
Fiduciary Investor Services, the illegal right to move vast amounts of money offshore without the reporting a
penny to regulators. Yes, Jeb Bush the brother of former President George W Bush became Governor of Florida
earlier that same year, and both were recipients of generous campaign donations from Allen Stanford.
Greenburg Traurig, the deep pocketed Miami lawfirm who lobbied endlessly to set up Stanfords Florida deal,
and who have been implicated in numerous other murky transactions.
Forbes, and who could forget their endorsement of Stanford as one of Americas 40 richest billionaires with
$50bn under management. They gave Stanford his greatest aura of credibility.
One would have anticipated, with four experienced attorneys on the (SIC) Stanford Investors Committee; together
with the examiner, the receiver, and Angela Shaw Kogutt, the director and founder of the SVC; these would all
be rich pickings; but did they choose to file any suits against any of these? No, not one.
On this day today, sadly, we learned they chose instead to file a suit against St Jude's, the children's cancer
research hospital charity who give hope to sick children and their families. Allen Stanford donated $7m towards
St Jude's, quite possibly the only truly good deed the "Knight" ever did. No matter where those funds came
from, there is one indisputable fact; St Jude's received and spent them in good faith to keep a lot of sick
kids alive, and who can begrudge them that?
On this day today, it should have been the day we were all celebrating having made the first step towards
recovery from the US Government, who knew for 13 years that Allen Sanford was a fraud, but did nothing.
Instead I am sickened that the Stanford Investors Committee, who supposedly act in our best interests,
could have instigated such a callous and insensitive action against such a deserving institution as St
Jude's without our knowledge, and without our consent.
To all the Stanford investors reading this, I urge you to write or email the Stanford Investors Committee
members to withdraw this suit against St Jude's. In the eyes of the world we are all as equally guilty as
those undeserving members of the committee who are behind it. Please let us do one good thing and make
this right.
Thank you.
Stanford's victim.
Group that lost money in Stanford ponzi scheme sues St. Jude, Le Bonheur
Investors trying to retrieve billions they lost in Stanford Financial Group's Ponzi scheme have sued St. Jude
Children's Research Hospital, its fundraising arm American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities Inc. and Le
Bonheur Children's Medical Center Foundation for more than $7.37 million Stanford had donated.
The "Official Stanford Investors Committee" filed suit late Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the
Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division.
The claim represents the Ponzi scheme's latest fallout for Memphis.
Stanford Financial assumed a major profile in town in 2007 and 2008 as title sponsor of Memphis' PGA Tour
golf tournament, which benefits St. Jude.
Earlier this month, the investors and the court-appointed receiver also sued the PGA Tour for $12.9 million,
an amount that may be related to Stanford Financial's sponsorship of the tournament in 2007-08.
In the hospitals' case, the money that investors are trying to get back was given when Stanford Financial
was insolvent and R. Allen Stanford operated the company "in furtherance of his fraudulent scheme," the suit
states.
The sum in the suit, however, will be adjusted if the committee finds any additional payments made to the
groups from Stanford, according to the lawsuit.
Since the litigation is pending, ALSAC/St. Jude could not reveal a precise amount Stanford gave to the
charities, Emily Callahan, chief marketing officer for ALSAC/St. Jude, said in a statement.
But she said, "Our records show that we received less than the amount named in the suit."
The money, she said, was received "in good faith directly from Stanford Financial Group" and was spent
immediately "on our mission of saving kids' lives in the U.S. and around the world and finding cures for
catastrophic diseases in children...
"While our hearts go out to those impacted by the Stanford investment issues, it would hurt our charitable
mission to have to return the money already spent directly on clinical care and support for children suffering
from cancer and other deadly diseases, including bone marrow transplants, chemotherapy treatments, on
education and training of doctors and nurses who help kids worldwide, and on groundbreaking research,"
Callahan said in a prepared statement.
Before authorities cracked down in February 2009, Stanford also had contributed a substantial portion of its
$2.5 million pledge to Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center's campaign for a new $327 million hospital.
The suit states Stanford donated to ALSAC, St. Jude and the Le Bonheur foundation $2.56 million in 2006,
$2.14 million in 2007 and $2.62 million in 2008 and $35,174 in 2009.
Investors who lost an estimated $7 billion to Stanford Financial want as much of their money back as they
can retrieve, and some of their other recent "clawback" lawsuits apparently have Memphis ties.
They filed a $12.9 million suit Feb. 7 against the PGA Tour.
The suit says Stanford Financial parties paid the PGA Tour $5.9 million in 2007 and $6.9 million in 2008.
Although the suit didn't mention the Memphis tournament, those were the years Stanford was its title sponsor.
This past year, FedEx took over as title sponsor of the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
As he does in his filings against all defendants in the clawback suits, receiver Ralph Janvey claims the PGA
received the money from Stanford without providing any services or anything of equivalent value.
The PGA Tour says it doesn't respond in the media to lawsuits.
However, Ty Votaw, the organization's vice president for communications, told The Commercial Appeal on
Wednesday that Stanford, as title sponsor of the Memphis event, "received all the rights, benefits and
privileges associated with that."
Stanford, like any such tournament sponsor, received such benefits as "naming rights, commercial inventory
in the four-day telecast, the benefit associated with being title sponsor of a sporting event that had over
12 hours of television coverage, pro-am spots, hospitality.
"How they use those, I can't comment on," Votaw said.
"We did provide value."
For example, the international TV coverage encompasses 225 countries and 589 million homes, he said.
Stanford is accused of creating a huge pyramid scheme by guiding clients to invest more than $7 billion in
certificates of deposit from the Stanford International Bank in the Caribbean island of Antigua and then
misusing the money.
Staff reporter Tom Bailey Jr. contributed to this story.
READER DISCUSSION
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| Stanford's Victim wrote on February 16, 2011 at 13:36 |
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This Committee suing St. Jude has NEVER represented Stanford's Victims. It is made up of an elitist group all
following there own agenda. I know the victims are currently putting a letter rejecting this committee and its demands against St. Judes. The people on the committee responsible for this outrage should be named and shamed. Ralph Janvey - Receiver pointed by the SEC Ed Valdespino - (attorney) John Little - the court-appointed Examiner Angela Shaw - founder and director of the Stanford Victims Coalition Ed Snyder - (attorney) Peter Morgenstern - (attorney) Dr John Wade - an investor from Louisiana Jaime Tabini - (attorney) Trust me when I tell you the victims had no part in this and were not consulted! |