SEC wins dismissal of lawsuit over handling of $7 billion Stanford fraud

We are awaiting a statement from Gaytri regarding this, she says the Judge totally missed the point of our lawsuits and she is appealing this. We will post Gaytri's response as soon as we receive it.


 (Reuters) - A federal judge in Florida has thrown out a lawsuit accusing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of negligence for failing to report that the now-imprisoned swindler Allen Stanford was running a $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme.


 U.S. District Judge Robert Scola in Miami said the market regulator was shielded under an exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act that bars claims arising from misrepresentation or deceit.


 The plaintiffs, Carlos Zelaya and George Glantz, said they lost a combined $1.65 million with Stanford, and sought class-action status on behalf of investors who were victims of his fraud. They plan to appeal Monday's decision, their lawyer Gaytri Kachroo said. SEC spokesman Kevin Callahan declined to comment.


 Stanford, 63, is serving a 110-year prison sentence after he was convicted on criminal charges in March 2012 for a fraud that the government said was centered in certificates of deposit issued by his Antigua-based Stanford International Bank.


 Zelaya and Glantz claimed that the SEC considered Stanford's business a fraud after each of four examinations between 1997 and 2004, but failed to advise the Securities Investor Protection Corp, which compensates victims of failed brokerages.


 The SEC filed civil charges against Stanford in February 2009, two months after the multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme of New York-based swindler Bernard Madoff was uncovered. In a typical Ponzi scheme, investors are promised high or consistent returns relative to the amount of risk taken, and older investors are paid with money from newer investors.


 Last September, Scola let the lawsuit against the SEC go forward, saying the plaintiffs could argue that the regulator had breached a duty to report Stanford's misconduct.


 But on Monday, he said the FTCA exception barring claims of misrepresentation deprived him of jurisdiction.

 "The plaintiffs claim that they were induced into entering disadvantageous business transactions because of the SEC's misrepresentation," he wrote. "The plaintiffs' cause of action is a classic claim for misrepresentation."


 Their lawyer Kachroo said: "We believe that the judge did not draw the appropriate distinction between a claim based on a misrepresentation and our claim based on a failure to warn in line with the SEC's mandatory duty to notify SIPC."


 In 2010, the SEC's inspector general criticized the regulator, finding that it knew as early as 1997 that Stanford was likely running a Ponzi scheme.


 Earlier this year, federal appeals courts in New York and California dismissed lawsuits against the SEC by victims of Madoff's fraud.


 The case is Zelaya et al. v. U.S., U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, No. 11-62644.


Read More: http://sivg.org.ag/topic177.html


For a full and open debate on the Stanford Receivership visit the Stanford International Victims Group - SIVG official forum http://sivg.org.ag/

ARE CERTAIN ADVISORS OF STANFORD BANK VICTIMS LINING THEIR OWN POCKETS?

Over the weekend one of the self-appointed and so called ‘leaders’ of a group of Stanford victims issued yet another request for ‘donations’ from the victims. It is regrettable there will always be those who prey on the weak and needy, continually asking for money from victims who have already given all they can afford to give, and for what? What exactly have these individuals achieved with all the donations they have received over the last two years? What have all the donations been spent on, and why do some individuals continue to keep asking for more, when they can show nothing constructive for all the money they have collected?

The Stanford International Victims Group does not condone requests for donations by any of these individuals. Please discard any correspondence you receive from them asking for money.

The team behind this campaign has worked tirelessly, and without any need to request donations from any of the victims, and have done so for the benefit of all the Stanford investors.

The deadline for FTCA claims against the US Securities and Exchange Commission is approaching fast. This is a real possibility for full recovery of losses sustained by all the Stanford investors, irrespective of nationality or place of abode. All valid claims must be submitted correctly and timely before the 16th February 2011 deadline when the Statute of Limitations expires.

Please consult an attorney to submit your claims. Although the forms look straightforward enough, there is a plethora of case-law awaiting the unwary. Please ensure that the attorney you engage is willing to take your claim forward, should it be rejected or otherwise ineligible, and has experience of submitting FTCA claims.

Please contact your attorney without delay, or the attorney hired by the Stanford International investors Group: Kachroo Legal Services, Cambridge, Mass., who already have extensive experience of submitting FTCA claims for the Madoff investors. Email:info@kachroolegal.com