Stanford Apparently, screwed Gulf Cartel as well oops!!.






broggman :o

IF the mexicans gave him their money to invest and he stole it-so his life is over , also his family life also...the mexicans will make from it a warning for other people that think they could steel from them.

if it's true he is one of the biggest fools the world saw.

I totally agree with you X Man.

Maybe the Gulf Cartel can get their money back. You have to realize that major businesspeople and white-collar criminals have major protection in the Upperworld. The Upperworld is far more powerful than the Underworld.

the upperworld+the underworld=MAFIA :D

To X: Your ascertation that The upperworld + underworld = The Mafia makes sense......sometimes. The upperworld has well-trained special ops units that can easily break any underworld gang....... pretty much anytime they want. The underworld exists because governments and big business (the rich) want it that way. Very few people are looking at the rich and powerful looting the system because they are looking at petty criminals like John Gotti or those dope-dealers on the cover of DonDiva Magazine.

Yes they need each other but many governments are so weak the underworld runs the show...

BREAKTHROUGH:

Its come to my attention that after considering what beemoe said, I couldn't believe that I was right all along.

I'll explain:

Beemoe called John Gotti a "petty criminal" and that the Upperworld is far bigger then the Underworld. I believe this fact. So calling Gotti a "petty criminal" would effectively cancel out the Underworld terms of who was "big time" and who was "small time". Like I say, whatever you make is whatever you make. Thousands of dollars as a disorganised crime guy or millions of dollars as an organised crime guy, it don't matter.

We've always said that in the Underworld there are small guys and what they make is pathetic. Now who's laughing - me.

And as a final note, being an "unknown" and making $100 a year, yes one hundred dollars, no missed figures there, is better then being a "known" and making a million dollars. Its better to spend what little you have rather then be on th front page waiting for the IRS to knock at the door.

Big Time, Small Time, pah, we've been romanced by a bunch of low level punks. Low level punks like Capone, Gotti, Luciano, Costello, Lansky, Gambino, Bonanno and many others.

The underworld is a very very small part of a population but in places like Italy,Colombia Russia,Bulgaria,Serbia,Mexico and Japan they have a lot of power.

I do know that the Colombian, Russian and Japanese mobs have a lot more power then their perspective governments.

Russia may be exempt as their country collapsed and the Mafiya gained the control that way.

You totally lost me with this post :o

You fellas are making way toooooooo much of this stuff........These are just opinions. Opinions are like dollar bills everbody has them. I stole that from Herschel Walker hehehe. Everybody has a right to their opinion I enjoy all of them.

I believe Dave A. thinks Hy Larner was fiction, personally I think there`s a whole lot more to him. Connections to Adnan Khasshogi, The Shah, Noreiga, CIA, Mossad, Al-Kazzar etc. Who`s right.......beats me!

His money manger was arrested today...

Hyman was a very close partner of one time outfit boss Joe Ferriola that's a fact but i don't know how powerful he was..

On-topic :D :

FBI investigates possible links with Mexico drug gang
Ed Vulliamy and Paul Harris in New York
The Observer, Sunday 22 February 2009

The FBI is probing possible money laundering linked to Mexico's infamous narco-trafficking Gulf Cartel in its investigation of Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford, US law enforcement sources have told the Observer.

An FBI source close to the investigation would not give exact details but confirmed the agency was looking at links to international drug gangs as part of the huge investigation into Stanford's banking activities. Reports in the US have said Mexican authorities have detained one of Stanford's private planes as part of an investigation into possible links to the Gulf Cartel. It has been alleged cheques found inside the plane were linked to the cartel, which is one of the most violent criminal organisations in the world.

Sources in the US Drug Enforcement Administration also confirmed that while the investigations into Stanford's affairs were "with the FBI and Securities Exchange Commission, there may well have been a trail connecting his Mexican affairs to narco-trafficking interests. So far as we understand from information partially in the public domain, this has pertained to the Gulf Cartel, and items found aboard a private light aircraft. I think we'll find that any possible drug-related trail and SEC priorities are not all in the same frame."

Asked whether the aircraft seizures were an isolated incident in the overall investigation, the official said: "It's not going to be as if they would check every plane. Any connections to the narcos would have been followed for some time, and US law enforcement has been working with Mexico's banking regulators on a vast range of investigations, including Stanford's interests, for some time.

"This would not be the first investigation like this following trans-border investments to lead to narco-traffic interests."

While Mexico's current narco war, which has claimed 7,000 lives in two years, has been billed as one "between cartels", it is, on the ground, something closer to an anarchic scramble between street-level gangs to whom dealing and smuggling have been "outsourced", while the Gulf Cartel and its peers concern themselves with a takeover of the Mexican economy and all-out war against what is left of the Mexican state the cartels do not control.

Another US drug enforcement official said: "Any major US interest seeking to avoid fully disclosed investments would have to go to pretty careful lengths to avoid encountering cartel interests, and anyone seeking to conceal or launder money would find it in safe and lucrative hands were they to forge alliances with, rather than skirt, the cartels.

"Through the other end of the lens, anyone wanting to help the cartels launder their money would find them accommodating in terms of remuneration, but that's nothing anyone will confirm for Stanford right now."

To Craig: No disrepect to your opinion because you`re entitled to yours but to me Gotti was "petty". The way he ran his family it was obvious he was just "a thug in a suit". He was obviously intellegent but he let his ego get in the way. Real crime bosses are not that high profile for obvious reasons. Why do you think Sam Gravano lost respect for him?

Carlo Gambino picked Castellano for his future boss because he realized in order for his family to survive he needed racketeers and not thugs.

Compare Gotti to Accardo or to Mogilevitch and you`ll get my point.

To add insult to injury gotti got his kicked in prison over some silly racial shit. Go figure.

To X: Whose money manager was arrested?

Nicholas Cosmo, Financier, Arrested In Purported $400 Million Ponzi Scheme


HICKSVILLE, N.Y. — The owner of a Long Island investment firm accused of cheating people out of more than $100 million is expected to appear in court Tuesday.

FBI spokesman Jim Margolin says Nicholas Cosmo surrendered at a U.S. Postal Inspection Service office in Hicksville on Monday night.

Cosmo runs Agape World Inc. in Hauppauge (HAW'-pawg). He's accused of taking in $300 million from investors and cheating them out of about $140 million.

A letter hanging in Cosmo's office window denies there was any Ponzi scheme, the type of fraud Bernard Madoff (MAY'-dawf) is accused of committing. A Ponzi, or pyramid, scheme promises unusually high returns and pays early investors with money from later investors.

Defense attorneys at the Herrick Feinstein law firm haven't returned telephone calls seeking comment.

Nick Cosmo Had Extensive Mob Connections


Charlie Gasparino just broke the news that most recent ponzmaster Nick Cosmo of the $370 million Agape World ponzi, had extensive mob connections. Turns out Nick had a gambling addiction problem and owed a lot of money to loan sharks working for the Genovese mafia, and allegedly the Gambino family paid off around $139,000 of these debts on Cosmo's behalf. Also, former mob member Mike D'Urso, currently an informant for the government and in the witness protection program, apparently had tried to collect (or "shook") the money from Cosmo on behalf of the Genovese.

He was talking about Larner so im not sure http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columni...,5255665.column

Funny story Hollander.

It`s funny these scams just keep coming.

ciao amici

just picked this one up. better late than never

what we have is a circle which cannot be broken between the so-called uppperworld and the underworld

i am amazed that people on this forum still cannot get it that the reach of the mafia, its tentacles, know no bounds. we see countless events to confirm this worldwide

the difference between the upperworld and the underworld? you tell me. i cannot see it. one hides behind 'the law' yet continues to use it to justify its action, the other continues to ingratiate itself with the law for its own criminal ends, but what is the difference?

regardless of special ops etc etc until you manage to alter the human psyche, it will be impossible to eradicate the underworld - and there is always somebody up thyre in the upperworld who takes the decisions, and if those decisions prove unacceptable to the underworld, they're gone! simple. then another arrives and the circle continues

not so easy this one, but please, please, the reach of the underworld must never be underestimated - problem is, when the underworld and upperworld are mixxed together, we create a cocktail of such potency that it becomes quite frightening the power it yields - with the ability to do absolutely anything it might desire

Buona fortuna

'the king is dead. long live the king'

I have to disagree with you.......The Upperworld is far more powerful. The only thing you have to do is look at how much fear gangsters have of cops. Make no mistake the gangsters in America have a lot of fear of the police, even a dude like Hoover says this in several of his missives. The Underworld works well in places where the government is weak but not in places like America. Thanks Hollander.

I can guarantee you The Gambino Family can`t do all the things that The Cali Cartel can do because of the power of Uncle Sam.

For the most part in America as well as Japan or China or Italy the gangsters exists because the politicians allow them so. Once again look at Provenzano arrest after he lost his political protection. Don`t you think the previous prime minister knew where Provenzano was all along?

You don`t think a million man army like the People`s Republic Army (China) can`t wipe out the Triads?

ciao amico


you can't look at a subject like this in a simplistic fashion. in theory, the chinese army of 1 zillion could trample over anybody...but they dont. this is the way of the real world. let's just agree to disagree. isn't this just the beauty of this forum? discussion? long may it reign!


'the king is dead. long live the king'

This is not simplistic but obvious. The governments (the rich) use the gangsters as a front while they loot billions and trillions of tax money. That`s their main duty.

My ascertation is why not take a look at the real puppeteers instead of the puppets?

Once again take a good look at what happened to Provenzano after Bersculoni`s exit froim office.

Even in Russia (Gangsters Paradise) the same situation exists, don`t you think the KGB/ FSB has more power than mere gangsters? Hehehehe

You're right Beemoe, i think it's a good thing the KGB/FSB is very strong :D , but law enforcement in Russia is often very weak and corrupt so bad guys get away with a lot of things.

ciao

and the governments? who and what are they?


'the king is dead. long live the king'

http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel09/ponzi040109.htm

Hey fellas: These "scams" have always existed, it`s just that everybody was looking at the puppets (the gangsters) instead of the puppeteers (the rich) that`s what Ivar Kreuger was about......huge monstrous scams from way back. This has always existed in one form or another. Thanks for your replies.

The main question is.......how do we exploit all of these "stimulis" programs. Talk about a huge gold mine or should i say platinum mine. If I was a criminal or financier I would be licking my lips. hehehehe. Hell I`m licking my lips anyway.

Friday, 19 June 2009
Stanford charged with fraud in US


Asst Attorney General Lanny Breuer reads the charges against Sir Allen
Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford has been charged in the US with fraud and obstruction.

Announcing the indictment, the justice department said it related to a $7bn scheme to defraud investors.

Soon after, the 59-year-old appeared in court in Virginia and was remanded in custody pending a full detention hearing to be held in Texas.

He already faces civil charges over an alleged fraud worth $8bn (£6bn) - charges he denies.

Sir Allen had turned himself in to the FBI on Thursday after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He is confident that a fair jury will find him not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing

The justice department said the 50-page indictment accused Sir Allen and some of the other alleged co-conspirators of engaging in a scheme to defraud investors who purchased $7bn in certificates of deposit from Stanford International Bank, located in Antigua.

It said they "promised returns that were too good to be true".

US Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said: "The indictment charges Stanford with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and securities fraud: seven counts of wire fraud, 10 counts of mail fraud, conspiracy to obstruct an investigation for the Securities and Exchange Commission, obstruction of an investigation by the SEC and conspiracy to commit money laundering."

If convicted on all counts, Sir Allen could face up to 250 years in prison.

Sir Allen hosted a $20m cricket extravaganza in Antigua last year
A few hours after the announcement, Sir Allen appeared in court in Richmond, Virginia.

The BBC's Greg Wood in Richmond says Sir Allen wore an open-necked white shirt and stood in court as the 21 charges against him were read out.

He told Magistrate M Hannah Lauck he understood the charges but he was not asked to enter a plea.

Sir Allen's lawyers argued for his release pending the trial but the prosecution said he had spun a web of deceit over 10 years and there was a danger he might flee.

The judge ordered Sir Allen be held pending a full detention hearing, saying there was "sufficient evidence to warrant" one. Sir Allen chose to have the hearing in Houston, Texas.

Asked to comment on the issue earlier, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: "Whether it's this indictment or previous indictments... There are those whose outsized greed robbed millions of people of their savings."

The other Stanford Financial Group executives charged are Laura Pendergest-Holt, 35, Gilberto Lopez, 66, and Mark Kuhrt, 37.

The indictment also said Sir Allen made corrupt payments to Leroy King, 63, a former head of Antigua's financial services regulatory commission, who has also been charged.

Stanford employee Bruce Perraud, 42, has been charged with destruction of records.

A separate indictment charged Stanford executive James M Davis, 60, with fraud and obstruction.

Dick DeGuerin, Sir Allen's lawyer, has said his client will fight the allegations.

Profile: Sir Allen Stanford
"He is confident that a fair jury will find him not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing," Mr DeGuerin said.

In 2006 Sir Allen became the first American to be knighted by Antigua and Barbuda.

The cricket impresario in 2008 staged a $20m, winner-takes-all match between a West Indian XI and England at his stadium in Antigua.

The SEC has said he lured investors with promises of improbable and unsubstantiated high returns on certificates of deposit and other investments - what is known as a Ponzi scheme.

In an interview with ABC earlier this year Sir Allen insisted no money was lost by customers dealing with his financial services companies.

"If it was a Ponzi scheme, why are they finding billions and billions of dollars all over the place?" he said at the time.

A number of governments have frozen the assets associated with Stanford banks.

Have the article on Stanford in "Vanity Fair"......imagine a square magazine like that!

Excuse me fellas for the typos. It should read, Have you seen the article on Stanford in "Vanity Fair?" Imagine a square mag like that writing something of substance.

Billionaire Stanford faces 375-year sentence after pyramid scam arrest


Allen Stanford, the flamboyant financier and cricket impresario, faced a judge in America last night accused of running a $7 billion (£4.2 billion) pyramid scheme.

The moustachioed Texan, who landed a helicopter at Lord’s and was hailed as a potential saviour of English cricket, could face up to a 375-year jail sentence if convicted of fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice.

At the hearing in Richmond, Virginia, Judge Hannah Lauck ordered Mr Stanford to be kept in custody but moved immediately to Houston, Texas, for a detention hearing, where bail terms are to be discussed.

He was detained in Richmond on Thursday night and appeared in court stone-faced and hobbled by leg-irons. He briefly grasped the hand of Andrea Stoelker, his fiancé, who sat behind him. As the case was presented, he listened intently, answering only three questions with a brief “Yes Ma’am”.

Also indicted yesterday were five Stanford Financial Group executives and an allegedly corrupt bank regulator on the Caribbean island of Antigua, which Mr Stanford turned into a virtual fiefdom.

Prosecutors said that Mr Stanford and his associates tricked between 5,000 and 6,000 investors into buying $7 billion of supposedly safe Certificates of Deposit from the Antigua-based Stanford International Bank, with returns too good to be true.

Mr Stanford and his alleged coconspirators allegedly misappropriated most of that money, including $1.6 billion in personal loans to Mr Stanford, prosecutors said.

So far investigators have frozen about $300 million in bank accounts in Britain, Switzerland and Canada, but have not been able to trace the other missing funds.

The criminal indictment said that Mr Stanford made “regular secret corrupt payments of thousands of dollars in cash” to Leroy King, the former head of Antigua’s Financial Services Regulatory Commission, to ensure that he did not audit the bank’s finances, and filed false reports to US authorities. The pay-offs totalled “hundreds of thousands of dollars”.

“Economic crimes such as those alleged here today are unfortunately all too commonplace,” said Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the FBI. “These crimes strike at the heart of our economy and our quality of life.”

Mr Stanford, 59, turned himself in to FBI agents after a grand jury in Houston handed down the 57-page indictment four months after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused him of running a “massive Ponzi scheme”. He was taken into custody outside the home of Miss Stoelker, a former cocktail waitress. Dick DeGuerin, Mr Stanford’s lawyer, said that he “surrendered to FBI agents who were hiding in black SUVs outside the residence”. He added in a written statement that his client was “confident that a fair jury will find him not guilty”.

The case is the first major financial prosecution brought by the Obama Administration, which has pledged to crack down on financial fraud.

Mr Stanford was ranked by Forbes magazine last year as the 605th richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of more than $2 billion.

The fifth-generation Texan from the small town of Mexia affects aristocratic airs, taking advantage of a 2006 knighthood by the Caribbean island of Antigua to call himself Sir.

Though raised on baseball, he pioneered Twenty20 cricket, helped to fund the Antigua Sail Week regatta, struck endorsement deals with the Fijian golfer Vijay Singh and the England footballer Michael Owen, and sponsored a Sandhurst Cup polo tournament attended by the Prince of Wales. He claimed to be related to the founder of Stanford University until it filed a trademark infringement suit.

Mr Stanford came to dominate Antigua under the four-decade rule of Vere Bird, the island’s first Prime Minister, and his son, Lester Bird. The SEC said that he used the island as his “personal playground”.

The now-bankrupt Stanford International Bank has its headquarters in a Neo-Classical office park at the island’s airport, where Mr Stanford also owned the country’s major newspaper, the Antigua Sun, two restaurants, a spa and a cricket ground. In recent years he has lived in St Croix in the US Virgin Islands but also owns a 57-acre moated mansion in Florida.

In Britain, Mr Stanford is best known for revolutionising cricket by organising a million-dollar-a-man Twenty20 match last year between England and a West Indian team called the “Stanford Superstars” — a contest he promoted with his helicopter stunt at Lord’s.

Before he became mired in fraud allegations he had been expected to become a backer of a proposed English Premier League Twenty20 tournament. After being hit by civil charges in February, Mr Stanford protested his innocence. In a tearful interview, he told ABC News: “I would die and go to Hell if it’s a Ponzi scheme.”

Also indicted were Laura Predergest-Holt, 35, the group’s chief investment officer, who was already facing obstruction charges; James Davis, the chief financial officer; Gilberto Lopez, 66, the chief accounting officer and Mark Kuhrt, 37, the firm’s global controller. Bruce Perraud, who worked in the Fort Lauderdale office, was charged with destroying documents.

It`s interesting that Stanford was headquartered in Antigua, this is the same country used by Bruce Rappaport to hijack $15 billion from Russia. The story is the subject of the book "All Is Clouded by Desire" by Alan Block. A very good read.

Stanford denies 'ponzi scheme'


TYCOON Sir Allen Stanford today denied charges he swindled investors out of $7billion as part of a massive investment scam.
The financier entered his plea during his arraignment in federal court.

He's been indicted on charges that his international banking empire was really just a colossal pyramid scheme.

Laura Pendergest-Holt, Gilberto Lopez and Mark Kuhrt, three executives with the now defunct Houston-based Stanford Financial Group, also entered not guilty pleas during the court hearing.

US magistrate Judge Frances Stacy's decision on whether to grant a bond for Stanford was expected later in the day.

Stanford, who was behind the million-dollar-a-man winner-takes-all Twenty20 cricket contest between England and a team of cricketing all-stars last year, has been in federal custody since he was arrested in Virginia on June 18.

The arraignment of Stanford and the three executives came a week after a Houston federal grand jury returned a 21-count indictment against them.

Stanford has for months denied allegations he defrauded investors.

US judges delay Stanford release

US judges have delayed a decision to release Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford on bail, after prosecutors argued that he could flee the country.

Bail had been set at $500,000 (£305,000) for the tycoon, who denies 21 charges related to an alleged fraud of $7bn from investors.

But prosecutors opposed his release and judges in Houston, Texas, said they would need to study the objections.

The judges set the next hearing date for Monday.

Sir Allen denies fraud, conspiracy and obstruction related to the alleged fraud.

If convicted on all counts, he could face life imprisonment.

Sir Allen had bail set on Thursday, but prosecutors filed a motion on Friday saying they believed there was a possibility he would flee the country.

Defence lawyers said those claims were exaggerated and that he wanted to stay to clear his name.

District Judge David Hittner granted the prosecution request to delay his release.

In a written order, the judge said: "Defendant Stanford is ordered detained pending this court's ruling on a motion to revoke the release order."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/11/antigua-isle-of-man


Manx link to Antigua corruption inquiry

• Criminal investigation looks at bank accounts
• HSBC 'accepted £2.3m for ousted PM's chief of staff'
* David Leigh
* The Guardian, Wednesday 11 March 2009

The government of Antigua has begun criminal inquiries into large payments discovered in Isle of Man bank accounts controlled by Antiguan politicians.

Disclosure of these Caribbean corruption inquiries comes at an unwelcome time for the Isle of Man, described by the chancellor, Alastair Darling, as "a tax haven sitting in the Irish Sea". The island is under review by the UK government, which subsidises its low-tax regime.

According to documents seen by the Guardian, HSBC bank, in the Isle of Man, accepted $3.2m (£2.3m) on behalf of Asot Michael, once chief of staff to the former Antigua prime minister Lester Bird.

The Bank of Bermuda refused to handle a similar account and filed a "suspicious activity report" before the further account was opened on the Isle of Man, according to investigators' reports

Another $1.4m in total was paid into HSBC Manx accounts belonging to a former Antiguan high commissioner in London, Sir Ronald Sanders.

The cash under investigation came via an Israeli businessman, Bruce Rappaport, who is alleged to have diverted Antiguan funds into his own pocket while making payments to local politicians.

The Manx role in the Caribbean island's affairs is laid out in a report following a prolonged investigation by a Canadian forensic accountant, Robert Lindquist. He was called in by the new Antiguan prime minister, Spencer Baldwin, in 2004 to investigate "questionable payments" by Bird's regime, ousted in a general election.

A civil lawsuit against Bird and his chief of staff accused them of corruption. A new general election is due tomorrow. Coincidentally or not, the Baldwin government announced that police had now been called in, and that Rappaport had agreed to hand back $12m in settlement of the civil lawsuit against him. There had been a "gigantic conspiracy" to rob local taxpayers, the Antiguan attorney general said last month. He said Antigua had been making inflated payments of $400,000 a month, supposedly to pay off a debt to a firm which built a desalination plant on the island. But paperwork unearthed revealed that only $200,000 a month was actually due. The extra cash was routed through a company controlled by Rappaport, and money was passed on to a Panama offshore entity called Bellwood.

Sanders, the former high commissioner, denied getting kickbacks. "I don't know what kickbacks there could be," he said. "I worked for Rappaport for a long time, and he paid me." His lawyers said: "He firmly denies that there has been any impropriety on his part in this matter."

Bird said that he had committed no crime and was the victim of a "witchhunt". Michael, his former chief of staff, has also denied wrongdoing, saying: "It is a red herring across the campaign trail."

HSBC said yesterday that it would publicly neither confirm nor deny information about individual Manx accounts.

"HSBC has robust anti-money laundering policies and clearly defined policies and procedures concerning politically exposed persons," it said. "Where HSBC identifies any concerns it reports as required to the relevant authorities."

Accounts frozen in Stanford probe

The Serious Fraud Office has said it has frozen $100m (£60m) of assets in London in connection with Sir Allen Stanford's alleged $7bn fraud.

Following a request from the US Department of Justice, the SFO froze a number of accounts held "at certain London financial institutions".

These funds were allegedly acquired in connection with Sir Allen's suspected fraud scheme, the SFO said.

The assets were frozen in April, but kept secret until after his arrest.

They will be frozen pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings in the US.

Bail review

Sir Allen Stanford surrendered to FBI officers earlier this month and was taken into custody.

He appeared in court a week later where he pleaded not guilty to fraud, conspiracy and obstruction.

The 59-year old billionaire, who is currently on bail, faces spending the rest of his life in jail if found guilty on all charges.

He is expected to find out later on Tuesday if he can remain on bail pending the start of his trial in August.

Sir Allen and three former executives are accused of being involved in a scheme which persuaded investors to buy $7bn worth of certificates of deposit from Stanford International Bank, located in Antigua.

Prosecutors said they "promised returns that were too good to be true".