Less than 24 hours after Stanford Receiver Ralph Janvey filed almost $1 billion in clawbacks against investors and advisers, a federal judge set a hearing to consider the Securities and Exchange Commission’s emergency motion to strip the receiver of his authority to take money back from investors. John Little, the Stanford court-appointed examiner, says the hearing will be 5 p.m. Friday in Dallas before U.S. District Court Judge David Godbey. Also on the docket are two motions filed by Janvey on Tuesday, including one to re-extend the freeze on investor assets held at Pershing and other clearing brokers, and a second seeking to establish a process for settling clawback claims.
Mike Wampold, from whom Janvey wants to claw back more than $39 million tied to his II City Plaza project, says he supports the SEC’s attempt to disarm the receiver. “It probably cost several million for him to cast this net,” he says. “He’s wasting what precious little assets there are left.” But Wampold also feels the law is heavily on the side of the investors. “And any money that came back to me, came back because of the [Certificates of Deposit] expiring,” he says. “Obviously, if I’d thought it was about to crater, I would have pulled more money out.” Wampold says Janvey’s clawbacks, which also include numerous other prominent Baton Rouge-area investors, still is unnerving. “It sends a chill up your spine. But do I think it’s realistic? No.”
To read more about the clawback lawsuits, click here. To read more about the battle between Janvey and the SEC, click here.—Olivia Watkins
