Judge Appoints Public Defender for Billionaire R. Allen Stanford
A federal judge today appointed a public defender to represent a Texas billionaire who is accused of bilking $7 billion or so from investors in a scheme that allegedly revolved around an offshore bank’s certificates of deposit.
Because R. Allen Stanford’s assets were frozen in a civil suit brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission and his company’s insurer refuses to defend him, he can’t currently pay either of the two law firms lined up to represent him, reports the Houston Chronicle.
The federal public defender’s office in Houston will now be responsible for Stanford’s case and expects to ask Senior U.S. District Judge David Hittner to appoint high-profile private criminal defense attorney Kent Schaffer to assist, the newspaper reports. Stanford faces 21 charges of conspiracy, fraud, bribery and obstruction of justice in a case that also involves co-defendants.
“The man needs an attorney, he’s got an attorney, we’re going to get this case to trial,“ said the judge as the hearing concluded.
