HOUSTON -- Investors in a $7 billion Ponzi scheme orchestrated by former Texas tycoon R. Allen Stanford could finally begin getting back some of what they lost in the next few months, after a recovery process that has dragged on for more than four years.
Investors -- some of whom lost their life savings -- will see only a pittance of what they put into the scheme. But the process got a boost this week as parties that had been battling each other for control of about $300 million in frozen foreign bank accounts and other assets once owned by Stanford reached an agreement to work together."The freeing up of funds ... is a good thing," said Angela Shaw, who founded the Coppell-based Stanford Victims Coalition after three generations of her family lost $4.5 million in the fraud.In a Ponzi scheme, money from new investors is used to pay old ones. Prosecutors said Stanford persuaded investors to buy certificates of deposit from his bank on the Caribbean island nation of Antigua, then used the money to fund a string of failed businesses, bribe regulators and pay for his lavish lifestyle. Stanford, 62, a graduate of Eastern Hills High School in Fort Worth, was convicted last year of 13 fraud-related counts and sentenced to 110 years in prison.This week's agreement consolidates the efforts to take control of assets frozen in Canada, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.As of the end of January, a court-appointed receiver had collected more than $230 million while racking up more than $119 million in fees and expenses, leaving about $111 million for investors. The Antiguan liquidators have retained control of about $227 million in assets, mostly in land.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
