The deal was too good to be true, and fortunately for Charles Crocker, he realized that.
The brokerage unit of Stanford Group Co. in Dallas wanted to sell him certificates of deposit with a very high rate of return. But the money would have gone to Antiqua. Crocker wanted to keep his money at home. He did agree, however, to put his money in the financial empire of R. Allen Stanford, investing it in various accounts that were considered less risky.
R. Allen Stanford
He was right. The accounts were not risky, and Crocker is lucky. Unlike tens of thousands of Stanford customers who invested in the CDs, he didn’t lose his money. But that didn’t help much for seven weeks in 2009 when all of his accounts were frozen along with 50,000 other Stanford customers. A federal judge ordered the accounts blocked so the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and others could investigate.
As detailed here in the Sunday, July 19, 2009 Watchdog column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram by Dave Lieber, the government actually ended up hurting Crocker and others more than Stanford ever did.
Nobody would answer his questions about when he could get his money. Even after his $400,000 in life savings was restored, along with access to his Social Security payments, nobody will talk to him about how he can get reimbursed for the nearly $1,000 in penalty fees for checks that bounced when the Stanford accounts were frozen without Crocker’s knowledge.
He also doesn’t know if his credit will be restored.
How horrible to be hurt by your own government, those who have sworn to protect you. Imagine going nearly two months without access to your money because of an investigation. Crocker showed Watchdog Nation a thick binder of letters to government officials of all stripes. Nobody but nobody would help him.
His congresswoman, U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, for example, referred him to the court-appointed receiver, who refused to answer e-mails, phone calls or letters.
The only thing worse is losing all your money, which happened to so many.
Here’s an amazing report that details the perfidy and corruption of the Stanford empire, including how the top regulator in Antiqua was bribed to falsify documents and stave off the SEC.
