The Stanford Financial Group receiver has filed suit against more than 500 investors and Stanford employees, seeking to recover nearly $1 billion. Ralph Janvey filed the suit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Dallas, saying the clawbacks serve an “ultimate purpose” to reclaim for the estate as much of the fraudulent funds as possible. Those funds, Janvey claims in the suit, do not belong to the investors or employees who obtained them. Instead, “the money the investors received was not their money, was not a return on their investment, and was not generated by any of [Stanford International Bank’s] other business ventures.” They were, according to Janvey, merely funds of a Ponzi scheme being funneled through Stanford Group Company, Stanford Financial Group and Stanford International Bank to maintain the appearance of a working financial institution.
Janvey says Stanford advisers were used by the Ponzi scheme to continue the fraud. It is still unclear whether or not charities that received donations from Stanford entities and advisers will be subject to clawbacks. These clawback claims come from Janvey in direct opposition to an Emergency Motion filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission just over a week ago which sought to discredit the Janvey’s clawbacks and strip him of any power to clawback against what they said are innocent investors. To read the lawsuits, click here and here. For a list of the investors named, click here.—Olivia Watkins
