Though some Stanford victims were awarded the rights to their investments late Friday when the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled against receiver Ralph Janvey in his pursuit to claw back funds from investors, many are still waiting to get funds back. The court ruled to deny Janvey’s claims for interest and principal on the allegedly fraudulent certificates of deposits from the now-defunct Stanford International Bank. That means that investors who were able to withdraw their cash before the Feb. 17 seize on Stanford’s assets by the Securities and Exchange Commission will keep their money.
Thousands of Stanford investors who did not cash out before that date, however, are still left with little to nothing of their original investments. Phil Preis, a Baton Rouge-based attorney who represents Stanford investors that fall into both categories, says “the short-end way of looking at this is that all of the investors need to get their money back. The SEC assisted a group of investors [represented in the Friday decision] to get their money unfrozen. … The second step is getting [Securities Investor Protection Corporation] coverage for people who weren’t able to get their money back.” Stanford victims’ groups have long pleaded with SIPC for coverage of their lost assets—pointing to the fact that many victims of the Bernie Madoff scandal were compensated by the organization that is supposed to protect investors in the event of a brokerage firm’s failure.
To read the full judgment, click here.—Olivia Watkins
