B.R. executive takes the stand for prosecution in Stanford trial

As the worldwide financial crisis took hold in 2008, investors in certificates of deposit issued by R. Allen Stanford’s bank began cashing out, and—fearing a run on the bank—Stanford amped up efforts to reassure them, a former executive from Baton Rouge testified Thursday. The Houston Chronicle reports Stanford told his sales staff in October 2008: “We got to hold our clients’ hands. … We have to stay calm.” Jurors saw a video of that Miami gathering during the testimony of Jason Green, a former director of Stanford Group Co.’s office in Baton Rouge, and the most senior executive to testify thus far in Stanford’s fraud trial. Stanford is accused of operating a $7 billion fraud through Stanford Group Co., a brokerage and financial advisory firm, and Stanford International Bank in Antigua, both units of Houston-based Stanford Financial Group. Around December 2008, as Stanford was busily reassuring clients the bank was fiscally sound, Green testified, Stanford told him the bank had lost $600 million in one day. Green worked for Stanford from 1996 until 2009, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission forced Stanford’s companies into receivership. The government’s third witness against Stanford, Green is also a defendant in civil suits by Stanford investors. He described a pressure-cooker culture in which teams competed to meet sales goals, and said top sellers received bonuses presented during annual retreats at luxury location. Green also testified that he gave his $3 million in bonuses to his church, but the name and location of the church were not disclosed. Green is back on the stand today. Read the full story here.