December 9, 2011
PM says:
Since our last update, there have been several developments that I wanted to call to your attention. This past Monday, we filed our response to the bank defendant's motions to dismiss our complaint against them. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to share the actual response with you because of confidentiality requirements imposed on us. We will continue to aggressively press ahead with this lawsuit against the banks, and have asked the Court to permit the Official Stanford Investors’ Committee (on which we serve) to join the case. The banks have an opportunity to respond, and it is unclear when the Court will consider and decide the motions. We remain confident about our cases, and believe that the claims against the banks could result in significant recoveries. Of course there remain no guarantees of success.
So you filed your response to the banks but we can’t know what that response is, well there’s a familiar story. Surely if you are filing on behalf of your clients (Stanford victims) then the clients have a right to know what you are saying? How much more time (It’s been nearly 3 years since you originally filed these actions against the banks) are you going to spend on these lawsuits before we hear something positive? And, as these are class action lawsuits (filed in Texas I believe) are they all going to be thrown out under SLUSA ? Can you also give me a reason why you feel the need to include the committee to join this case? I am glad you are not giving any guarantees about this one as I lost all confidence in this action a long time ago.
PM says:
On a second front, the hearing on the Antiguan liquidators’ motion for Chapter 15 recognition is scheduled for December 21 in Dallas. We are actively opposing that application, as we are very concerned about the prospect of the Antiguan court and government exercising control over (i) the hundreds of millions of funds located and frozen by the Department of Justice in overseas bank accounts, and (ii) the Antiguan government gaining access to litigation recoveries that we anticipate in the future and other assets. The Antiguan government itself owes at least tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars to the Stanford investors, has a history of being corrupt, facilitated and was complicit in this fraud, and has since even failed to extradite Leroy King to the United States to respond to the serious criminal charges pending against him. Although the U.S. legal system is certainly not perfect, we believe it to be far superior to the Antiguan alternative for maximizing investor recoveries.
If you bothered to take any interest in the mood of Antigua, the government here and what is happening, you would (and do) know that Grant Thornton are acting completely independent from the Antigua Government. You would also know that the courts here come under English law and the appeals procedure again is laid down in English law. To date the courts in the US do not appear to be doing a very good job for the victims, hell they allowed mostly US lawyers to highjack all the positions on the committee. You also know that the Antigua government no longer have possession of any of the Stanford properties and assets and that Grant Thornton are working very hard to bring these under their control for the benefit of all victims. Talking about what the Antigua government owes to the victims, how about we look at what the US politicians owe from “donations” made by Stanford? Isn’t it about time all these politicians paid the money back? It comes to far more than Antigua ever borrowed from Stanford? Again, you talk about the Antigua government being complicit in the fraud. What about America, the CIA, the DEA, the last president, the SEC, the politicians? Compare that to one stupid Antiguan who accepted cash to keep Stanford informed about what was happening, he was a very small fish and he will be brought to justice. Let’s get things into prospective and get your own house in order before you start on Antigua. Also while we are talking about maximising the investors recovery, let’s just think for a moment about the IRS and what they are sitting waiting to take out of the Stanford estate, $260Million I believe at the last count and that can change if and when they take into account the $1.8 Billion “loan” that Stanford gave himself.
PM says:
Our opposition to the Antiguan liquidators is not an endorsement of how this case has proceeded to date. We remain very frustrated by the lack of substantial progress, and are continuing our constant efforts to speed up the cases and maximize recovery for all Stanford investors.
Grant Thornton have only been in situ for less than 6 months and have done a fantastic job, not least at keeping the investors informed about what they are doing and what is happening. They have brought together a TOTALLY INDEPENDENT VICTIM committee, which surprise, surprise is actually made up of VITIMS from around the world. They are asking the victims what their questions are and they are taking the trouble to answer those questions. Compare this to the US committee who for the most part have ignored letters and questions from the victims, have ignored their grievances, for the most part have failed to keep the victims informed, have misled the victims (I refer here to the idea and original composition of the committee we were led to believe would be formed). It’s no wonder they don’t want another (in my opinion) more professional and capable group of Liquidators (GT) coming in and spoiling their nice cosy little set-up.
PM says:
As usual, there continue to be unfounded and untrue rumors being circulated about the Investors Committee. The Committee, which we are part of, is working very hard and represents ALL Stanford investors, regardless of nationality or residence. This allegation about the Committee only serving U.S. investors, is completely untrue and unfair. This was the finding of the Court when it recently denied an attempt by the Kachroo firm to reconstruct the Committee, and denied their motion to intervene in the case.
With regard to the rumours, how are the victims supposed to feel when (see comments above) we have been ignored and to date the majority of efforts seem to have been spent trying to get SIPC for mainly US victims. The committee is made up of mainly Americans, the Political scene is working purely for the American victims, Angela Shaw sends out emails saying she will ONLY REPRESENT THE AMERICANS….der, I wonder why all the international victims doubt your sincerity about representing them? With regard to the finding of the courts regarding Kachroo’s motion to intervene,I believe this was denied on a point of law. Actions speak louder than words and the actions of the committee to date reflect the grave concerns the International Victims have about their neglect by you and the committee. If victim beleive they are not being fairly represented then clearly you have afiled to keep them informed. It would seem that Kachroo gave you all the kick up the butt that was so badly needed.
We are continuing to move forward with our investigation of potential sources of recoveries, are in discussions (which cannot be made public) with certain significant litigation targets, and are proceeding as quickly as possible with the filed litigations seeking substantial recoveries for investors. We are also representing your interests in all of the major court proceedings.
PM says:
I expect that we will have a further report for you after the next Court hearing on December 21. I know that many of you are frustrated by our lack of personal, individual contact with you. We are trying our best to concentrate virtually all of our efforts on the lawsuits and recovery efforts which we hope will result in significant distributions to you eventually. After the hearings in December and the upcoming holidays, I do plan to schedule a trip to Mexico and other locations, at the beginning of the year, to provide an in-person update to anyone who is interested in attending. In the meantime, please keep watching for updates and monitor the examiner’s website for other Committee news.
Well you are right about us being frustrated by your lack of personal, individual contact. There are a lot of very disillusioned victims out there. Hope you plan a trip to Antigua, I would LOVE to meet up with you…and while you are at it, please bring Ms. Shaw, I would also love to meet her…as would most of the Antigua population!!
Finally, we are all anxiously awaiting word about the commencement of Allen Stanford’s criminal trial, which remains unscheduled. We will provide you with that information as soon as possible.
Peter D. Morgenstern
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