A former top federal drug agent appeared handcuffed in a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., federal court today, a day after he was indicted on charges related to the Stanford Financial Group fraud case.
Thomas Raffanello, who was Stanford Financial's global security director, is accused of conspiracy, destroying records and impeding a probe by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into the operations of Stanford Financial, founded by Texas native R. Allen Stanford—who also faces criminal charges.
Raffanello is the former head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Miami office.
Magistrate Robin Rosenbaum set bail at $100,000 and set Raffanello's arraignment for next Friday. .
Raffanello, 61, is the second Stanford executive to be charged in Florida by prosecutors and federal securities regulators who accuse Stanford and others of bilking investors out of more than $7 billion through a scheme involving bogus certificates of deposit.
Thursday's three-count indictment accuses Raffanello, 61, and Bruce Perraud, 42, of helping to shred documents at Stanford Financial's office in Fort Lauderdale. Their lawyers have said the men only destroyed documents after giving investigators electronic duplicates.
R. Allen Stanford, who also denies wrongdoing, is being held without bail in a Conroe jail awaiting trial on a 19-count indictment by a federal grand jury in Houston. That indictment also named three other company executives and a banking regulator in the Caribbean island nation of Antigua and Barbuda.
Another company executive was charged separately, pleaded guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors.
Showing posts with label Bruce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bruce. Show all posts
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Saturday, 25 July 2009
Stanford’s Shredded Florida Papers Being Reassembled
Shredded documents seized from R. Allen Stanford’s South Florida offices are being pieced back together by prosecutors probing allegations the Texas financier ran a $7 billion Ponzi scheme.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said federal prosecutors told him yesterday that within the next two months they will have “re-assembled the contents of three bags of shredded documents,” according to a report posted today on the court’s Web site.
The shredded evidence will initially be used against Bruce Perraud, a former Stanford Financial Group security specialist who is charged with destroying documents after an investigation began. Perraud’s trial date, set for Aug. 24, will probably change to accommodate his lawyer’s vacation plans, Seltzer said.
Stanford, four of his executives and Antigua’s former top banking regulator are charged with defrauding investors of as much as $7 billion through bogus certificates of deposit sold by Antigua-based Stanford International Bank. The charges mirror U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil claims filed against Stanford and three of his companies on Feb. 17.
Perraud, who isn’t accused of participating in the alleged fraud, worked at Stanford’s Fort Lauderdale office, according to an indictment unsealed in June. Prosecutors claim Perraud told a document-shredding company to destroy a 95-gallon bin full of papers on Feb. 25, a week after a Texas judge presiding over the SEC case issued an order forbidding the alteration, removal or destruction of Stanford Financial records.
Edward Shohat, Perraud’s lawyer, said in a July 22 telephone interview that his client intends to fight the charge.
Prosecutors told Seltzer that, in addition to the reassembled shredded documents, they intend to use six seized computer hard drives as evidence against Perraud.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Seltzer of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said federal prosecutors told him yesterday that within the next two months they will have “re-assembled the contents of three bags of shredded documents,” according to a report posted today on the court’s Web site.
The shredded evidence will initially be used against Bruce Perraud, a former Stanford Financial Group security specialist who is charged with destroying documents after an investigation began. Perraud’s trial date, set for Aug. 24, will probably change to accommodate his lawyer’s vacation plans, Seltzer said.
Stanford, four of his executives and Antigua’s former top banking regulator are charged with defrauding investors of as much as $7 billion through bogus certificates of deposit sold by Antigua-based Stanford International Bank. The charges mirror U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil claims filed against Stanford and three of his companies on Feb. 17.
Perraud, who isn’t accused of participating in the alleged fraud, worked at Stanford’s Fort Lauderdale office, according to an indictment unsealed in June. Prosecutors claim Perraud told a document-shredding company to destroy a 95-gallon bin full of papers on Feb. 25, a week after a Texas judge presiding over the SEC case issued an order forbidding the alteration, removal or destruction of Stanford Financial records.
Edward Shohat, Perraud’s lawyer, said in a July 22 telephone interview that his client intends to fight the charge.
Prosecutors told Seltzer that, in addition to the reassembled shredded documents, they intend to use six seized computer hard drives as evidence against Perraud.