Assets Frozen, Billionaire Stanford Has No $ For Lawyer
Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford notified a federal court in Dallas this week that he is unable to retain counsel because all his assets and money have been seized.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has sued Stanford and two associates, accusing them of running a multibillion-dollar fraud through investment businesses, Bloomberg reports.
After the SEC suit was filed in February, U.S. District Judge David Godbey froze the assets of the Stanford companies and those belonging to Stanford, and placed them under the control of a court-appointed receiver.
And while Stanford has an estimated net worth of at least $2 billion, he reportedly cannot gain access to funds necessary to retain Houston criminal defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin, who he approached last week. The court documents cited by Bloomberg were filed Monday and made available on the court’s website on Tuesday.
DeGuerin told Bloomberg that he prepared the filing for Stanford, but didn’t submit the document because, “in the federal court system, any lawyer that signs onto a case is in for the duration.”
Stanford hopes to get defense costs from corporate insurance policies.
Also See:
ABAJournal.com: “Stanford Lawyer Hits SEC ‘Storm Troopers,’ Says His Client is No Madoff”
