Receiver sets $1.5B target for Stanford investors

The lawyer tracking down money lost in what authorities say was a massive Ponzi scheme run by Robert Allen Stanford says he hopes to gain control of more than $1.5 billion that would be then returned to jilted investors. Court-appointed receiver Ralph Janvey filed a report in federal court in Dallas, outlining his plan to go after the $1.5 billion and provide allegedly defrauded Stanford investors a return of as much as 20 cents on the dollar. But John Little, the Stanford examiner appointed to represent investors, said Janvey’s recovery goal is “something of a fantasy” and that investors should prepare to get back as little as 2 cents on the dollar. Authorities accuse Stanford of leading a $7 billion Ponzi scheme by promising inflated returns to about 28,000 investors on certificates of deposits at his Antiguan bank. Janvey, who is winding down Stanford’s businesses and collecting a pot of money to return to investors, has about $71 million in cash on hand. He is pursuing the rest through lawsuits and other means. Little said he believes a total recovery of around $150 million is more realistic than the $1.5 billion Janvey wants to get, in part because the courts rarely permit a receiver to go after investors who are “net losers.” The SEC branded Janvey’s plan to sue net loser investors as “an extraordinarily expensive effort” that is “not necessary or appropriate in the first place.”