U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy sent an urgent letter to Securities & Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Schapiro this afternoon on behalf of the victims of the Stanford Financial Group’s alleged $8 billion Ponzi scheme. Cassidy, who has been working closely with representatives from the Louisiana Stanford Victims Group, says, “Thousands of families across the country have lost their entire life’s savings to Stanford’s fraud. In Baton Rouge, the impact is particularly severe.” Endorsing the letter was the entire Louisiana Congressional delegation, as well as a bipartisan list of representatives from Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Pennsylvania and Texas.
In the letter, Cassidy and others request that the SEC release all documents and information regarding the 10-year, ongoing investigation into Stanford’s practices, conduct a full audit of the Stanford Financial Receivership, led by Ralph Janvey, and that the SEC provide a thorough plan for the restitution of funds lost by those who purchased the Stanford International Bank Certificate of Deposit. Despite evidence suggesting the SEC was investigating Stanford since the late 1990s, experts have suggested the SEC still had no authority with which to regulate Stanford International Bank and little authority over those Stanford companies headquartered within the United States that served to broker sales of the SIB CDs. The letter, which answers a call from Stanford victims for a political response, may have little impact since the SEC investigation is still ongoing. To read the full letter from Cassidy and others, click here.—Olivia Watkins
