Ruling favors Antiguan receiver in Stanford case

ST JOHN'S, Antigua - A firm appointed by Antiguan authorities to liquidate the assets of R. Allen Stanford's offshore Caribbean bank won control Friday of assets in the U.K. worth more than $100 million, a defeat for a U.S.-appointed receiver in an ongoing fight over jurisdiction in the case.

U.K.-based Vantis Business Recovery Services said the High Court of Justice ruling allows it to proceed with its effort to collect Stanford assets from around the world and distribute them to thousands of investors who purchased the allegedly fraudulent certificates of deposit issued by Stanford International Bank Ltd. The assets have been frozen by Britain's Serious Fraud Office.

Ralph Janvey, appointed by U.S. courts to liquidate Stanford assets, said in a statement that the case was "wrongly decided" and he will appeal.

The two receivers are fighting over who has jurisdiction over the Stanford assets, frustrating investors who are eager to recover money they invested in what U.S. authorities have alleged as a $7 billion Ponzi scheme.

U.S. prosecutors have filed charges that include fraud and money laundering against Stanford, 59 and he is in custody in Houston.

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