FBI agent: Stanford blew millions on family, yachting and gambling

An FBI agent has returned to the stand this morning as the government’s last witness in the trial of R. Allen Stanford, accused in a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, The Houston Chronicle reports. On Tuesday—day 17 of the trial— FBI Special Agent Robert Martin detailed for jurors how Stanford burned through millions in cash—giving away a million to his family members, making payments on yacht renovations and dropping $1.1 million at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. The Bellagio spending included $200,000 in just the month of January 2009, only weeks before federal regulators shut his financial empire down. Martin showed jurors how he traced $262 million that Stanford transferred from his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank to his Swiss bank account, all funded by his offshore bank’s certificates of deposit customers. From there, much of it was transferred to personal accounts at the Bank of Antigua, and in Florida and Houston. The trial, now in its fourth week, has focused on the government’s accusations that Stanford helped himself to more than $2 billion in loans to fund the 61-year-old’s extravagant lifestyle and fuel the operation of more than 100 companies. By 2008, those companies had lost $711 million, Martin testified, resulting in a $7.05 billion “hole” for SIB. Martin is the government’s last witness before the defense rests.