Father of Texas multi-billionaire accused of fraud comes forward
By Kevin Reece / 11 News
HOUSTON – Approximately 30,000 Stanford investors worldwide and 3,000 people in the Houston area fear their money is gone.
Father of Texas multi-billionaire accused of fraud comes forward February 18, 2009
The SEC has accused R. Allen Stanford in being involved in a multi-billion dollar investment fraud, but he has not responded to the investigation. However, his father James A. Stanford has come forward.
"It’s a shock," aid James Stanford. "But things have happened. We’ll just hope for the very best."
James Stanford is listed as the Bank Chairman Emeritus of his son’s organization. He lives in Mexia, Texas, and says he had no idea these accusations were coming.
"He’ll give it a good battle. My son is a fighter, I can tell you that," said Stanford.
Stanford’s son is going to have a big fight on his hands. In fact, what two former employees are claim he did is both part of the SEC investigation and their own lawsuit against the company.
D. Mark Tidwell and Charlie Rawl used to be financial advisers at Stanford’s Houston office. But when they started to ask questions about investments impossible rates of return and past performances, they ran into trouble.
Both say they were forced to resign for putting their noses where they didn’t belong.
"If they were lying about something like that, I wondered what else they were lying about," said Rawl.
The two men described working in lavish offices outfitted in the finest mahogany and marble. But they say those excesses, and those of their jet-setting billionaire boss, made them even more suspicious.
They began to wonder if their client’s money was really safe and it if was still there.
The SEC is now asking the same questions.
"Part of me feels vindicated that what we thought we saw, really was a problem. I feel horrible that there’s a lot of people with their hard earned money in that institution, who don’t know if they’re ever going to get it back," said Tidwell.
In a countersuit, Stanford calls the two men "disgruntled employees who owe the company hundreds of thousands of dollars."
But while the SEC has frozen Stanford’s assets, the two men are fielding hundreds of "thank you calls" from their clients. This is because they got their clients and their money out of Stanford investments in time.