Antigua bank loaned Stanford nearly $500M, witness says

R. Allen Stanford received several hundred million dollars in loans from his Caribbean bank as he expanded his real estate holdings—and as investors he wooed in the United States and elsewhere deposited billions in the bank—a business associate testified Tuesday, The Houston Chronicle reports. Stanford International Bank in Antigua, a subsidiary of Houston-based Stanford International Group, is at the heart of the federal indictment charging that Stanford and associates misled clients about how the bank’s certificates of deposit were invested. The government charges that although depositors were assured by Stanford and his associates that the CDs were safe and that the bank did not make loans, $7 billion in investors’ money went to Stanford’s pet business projects and lavish lifestyle. On Tuesday—the seventh day of the trial—federal prosecutors zeroed in on how Stanford began branching into real estate ventures, searching for projects for “high net” people, while he was loaning himself money from Stanford International. Federal prosecutors introduced two promissory notes signed by Stanford, indicating the bank loaned him $168 million in 2002 and $330 million in 2003. Neither loan was listed on the bank’s annual statements. Tap into the full story here, and follow the trial live as it resumes today via Twitter updates from The Houston Chronicle here.