- Contagion Fears Calmed by Dubai World Plan
- China Hires Foreigners to Manage Forex Reserves
- Bank of Japan Offers Liquidity at Emergency Meeting
- Somali Sea Gangs Create Pirate Stock Exchange
- Cutting Jobless Will Take Time: White House's Summers
- GE, Vivendi Agree to Value NBCU Stake at $5.8 Billion
- Manufacturing in Focus as Bulls Call for Turn in Dollar
- Euro Zone Manufacturing Grows Faster Than Forecast
- Arrest Imminent in Florida Ponzi Case: Report
- Treasury Threatens Banks, Not Borrowers
- We're Approaching a Market Bubble: Portfolio Manager
- Hershey Shares: What Options Are Saying
- Nov. 30: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Why Careful Shoppers Are Great for the Box Office
- Blue Nile CEO: 'We're Having the Best Cyber Monday Ever'
- Best Online Retailers to Buy Now: Internet Analyst
- ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue: A Financial Success
- Cyber Monday: The Last Vestige of Dotcom Hype
MOST SHARED
- Timeless and Time-Tested Warren Buffett Watch Predictions
- Good Sign for the Economy: 'Greed' Makes a Comeback
- Dubai Stocks Could Fall a Further 30%: Charts
- Dubai World Set to Restructure About $26 Billion of Total Debt
- Treasury Threatens Banks, Not Borrowers
- Dubai Markets Close Sharply Lower for Second Day
- What to Expect from Cyber Monday
- Bove: 26 Banks May Need To Raise More Capital
- Bank of Japan Offers More Liquidity at Emergency Meeting
- Arrest Imminent in Florida Ponzi Case: Report
Text Size 
Securities and Exchange Commission staffers are denying they "stood down" in their investigation of accused fraudster Allen Stanford, according to a Congressman who attended a closed-door briefing on the case this morning.
Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, tells CNBC the alleged "stand down order," which was first reported by the New York Times early in the scandal, was one of the top concerns among members of Congress who requested the briefing.
 |
In February, the Times quoted an SEC attorney as saying that another government agency had told the SEC to stand down on its Stanford probe in 2006, a story that has rankled alleged victims ever since. But Cassidy says SEC staffers told members of Congress that the story was incorrect.
As CNBC has previously reported, the SEC asked the Department of Justice last June—not in 2006—for help in the investigation, at which point the DOJ asked to take the lead in the case. Rep. Cassidy, while stopping short of saying he was satisfied by the SEC's version of events, said "It appears it was more a question of sequencing than (the SEC) being told to stand down."
Also at the briefing, according to Cassidy, SEC staffers said the agency would recommend a court-appointed Receiver not pursue "clawback" claims against U.S. investors. The Receiver, Dallas attorney Ralph Janvey, has had control of Stanford's assets since the SEC filed suit against the firm in February. Janvey has already begun the process of seeking clawbacks of allegedly fictitious returns from some investors.
Staffers also confirmed the SEC is pushing Janvey to discount his fees by an additional 20 percent. Janvey raised eyebrows in May when he asked a federal court to approve nearly $20 million in fees and expenses for roughly three months' work. Members of Congress had demanded an audit of Janvey's expenses, but were told at the briefing that an audit may be more expensive than it is worth.
Rep. Cassidy said members of Congress must now decide what to do with the information the SEC has provided, including conferring with attorneys for Stanford investors. But, he said, "I appreciate the SEC coming forward and engaging in the conversation."
SEC spokesman John Nester confirmed that the briefing took place, and did not dispute Rep. Cassidy's account of the session. The agency's Inspector General completed an internal investigation of the SEC's conduct in the Stanford case last month, but the report on the investigation has not yet been disclosed despite multiple requests by CNBC under the Freedom of Information Act.
Print
Email
- Ever wished your cab driver would stop chatting and just get to where you're going? Well, that moment is closer than ever.
- UPS is giving its customers the option to offset its carbon emissions when sending a package.
- Romania's presidential campaign has been rocked by a video that may show the president striking a 10-year-old boy.
- Raising alligators is hard work, and the fickle taste of rich consumers has just made it much harder, says the NY Times.
- A recent issue of ESPN Magazine was one of its top sellers ever, and it only took scantily clad athletes to make it happen.
- The continued real estate boom in China is partially fueled by a generational flood of newlyweds.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes