The R. Allen Stanford fraud trial appears to be winding down, and the big
question is whether the Texas tycoon will take the stand today, Monday or at
all.
The defense team will continue this morning with their paid expert
accountant witness, Morris Hollander. Once his testimony is over, another
paid witness is expected to come on, and then possibly Stanford himself.
Stanford doesn't have to take the stand. And the defense team does not have
to tell U.S. District Judge David Hittner or the prosecution team that he is
testifying until the last possible moment.
The 61-year-old financial services king is accused of running a $7 billion
Ponzi scheme through sales of certificates of deposit from his Antigua bank
and if convicted on the 14 counts against him, could spend 20 years in
prison.
The government claims CD customers were told their money was going toward
safe and conservative investments and presented evidence that two-thirds of
it was used to fund his other companies and Stanford's high-end tastes.
But the defense says the bank was solvent, in the midst of a reorganization
and would be here today if the government had not shut it down in 2009.
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