Stanford Financial receiver sues law firms

Feb 1 (Reuters) -

The receiver for the money management firm founded by Texas financier Allen Stanford, who is on trial for investment fraud, has filed a $1.8 billion lawsuit against two prominent New York law firms and an attorney who worked at both, alleging they played roles in a massive Ponzi scheme run by Stanford.

Ralph Janvey, the court-appointed receiver for Stanford Financial Group, filed suit on Friday in federal court in Washington against the law firm Proskauer Rose, the law firm Chadbourne & Parke, and Thomas Sjoblom.

The lawsuit alleges that while working at the firms, Sjoblom helped Stanford defraud more than 30,000 investors by issuing $7 billion worth of bogus certificates of deposit. Sjoblom was a partner at Chadbourne & Parke from 2002 to 2006 and at Proskauer Rose from 2006 to 2009.

The lawsuit also alleges that Stanford Financial lost at least $1.8 billion because Sjoblom, a 20-year veteran of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division, thwarted a federal investigation into the company. The lawsuit further alleges that the two law firms failed to properly supervise Sjoblom's work.

"Sjoblom spearheaded an effort to evade investigation," Guy Hohmann, the attorney representing Janvey, said on Wednesday.

Proskauer Rose said in a statement, "The claims asserted against the firm are completely without merit. We will address them in the appropriate forum."

A spokesman for Chadbourne & Parke said, "These are the same allegations that we've seen previously. There is nothing new here. Prior litigation against our firm regarding Stanford was dismissed, and we do not believe this latest attempt should be any more successful."

Sjoblom did not respond to requests for comment.

The lawsuit seeks $1.8 billion in actual damages plus punitive damages.

Federal prosecutors in Stanford's trial allege that he sold phony CDs from his bank in Antigua and used the money to finance a lavish lifestyle. Stanford's attorney, Robert Scardino, has asserted that his client was an astute businessman whose company was ruined when the government seized it in 2009.

Neither Sjoblom nor the two law firms have been charged with any crimes.

The three defendants named in the lawsuit filed by Janvey also face at least six class-action lawsuits in Texas filed by Stanford Financial Group investors who claim that Sjoblom conspired to defraud them and that the law firms failed to keep tabs on his activities.

The case is Janvey v. Proskauer Rose, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 12-CV-00155.

For the plaintiff: Guy Hohmann with Hohmann, Taube & Summers.

For the defendants: Not immediately available.